Laddie

Vintage Laddie pencils for my girl, check. I just couldn't help myself.

I remember how much I loved using them and how special I felt when my former English teacher from middle school would send them to me. He gave me my first one in his classroom, and he asked me what I did with the eraser. Laddie doesn't make mistakes, and erasers are not necessary for a Laddie pencil. I remember taking the joke slowly. :)

His class was my favorite. Transitioning to public school was weird. I did well academically but was socially all over the place. That's probably pretty accurate of most of my primary education. It wasn't until half way through high school that I really settled into a "group" of friends, but even then I had a few "groups".

In his classroom I felt like myself. I could share my love for diagramming sentences without shame, ha! He sent me Laddie in high school too. The class I felt most like myself in then was also my English class, with yet another favorite teacher, and another after that. Something about those English teachers!!! They have the privilege to teach so much through literature.

When I look back on my own journey through school and forward at my children's journeys I can't help but caution myself and others.

Know your children's English teachers and what they are working through in those classes. Reading is so important, because kids learn so much about the world through what they read. My husband and I will be encouraging our children to read a wide variety of things throughout the years, but safely with us helping them process it and check it against our Christian world view. It's easy to get lost in emotionally compelling writings, so make sure your children read truth more than anything. Be a part of the conversation if they will let you. At the very least read what they write, so you can know where they are at. I hid myself in my writing as a kid. It was the safest place to be myself. I'm sure not every kid is that way, but if your child is gifted in writing then meet them there.

It will be the first time in at least 10 years that I will take the opportunity to write with a Laddie pencil. It is also the first time in 10 years that I can say I feel like myself. Writing is a safe place again, not somewhere to hide now but somewhere to testify. Laddie can help me write about all the mistakes I have made, all the erasers I've worn down and the number of times I have had to change them. All at once I'm gaining this part of me back, writing and my voice. Something I have been praying for for years is to know when it is time to speak, to write, and to sing.

I told myself one day I would send my kids to school with Laddie pencils. I didn't know the specific ones I used would be "vintage" now!

I'm dreading the start of school, but I can't wait for those people to come into my daughter's life that will influence her in all the best ways. I hope she loves to write with her Laddie pencil like her mother, especially as she gets older.

One more week and we start a new chapter of life. Anyone else sending one off to Kindergarten and getting all sentimental over pencils? Or is that just me? :)