Fun With Elmer!

 I must dedicate this next story to my friend and neighbor Kelly.   If she did not bust out the Elmer's glue the other day it would have taken me a long time to tell this story from the way back machine.

 When I was in preschool and kindergarten one of my favorite things to do in the entire world was play with Elmer's glue. I was not the least bit crafty but I had an unusual way to entertain myself with it that adults had taught me.

 I started going to physical, occupational and speech therapy when I was 18 months old. As part of my occupational therapy during my toddler and later days  I was taught to rub Elmer's glue on my hands and then clap my hands together.   Once the glue dried I would pick it off my hands. It was truly one of my favorite pastimes growing up. I vividly remember sitting in front of the TV at my white and red desk picking glue off my hands several times a week.   

When I first entered a mainstream  kindergarten I was blissfully oblivious to the fact that I was different than everybody else. I never knew how to walk or use my hands properly so I never missed it.   In the first several weeks of  kindergarten we were working on art projects using a wide variety of supplies.   I had finished some drawing using markers and enthusiastically grabbed for my buddy Elmer's pick juice.  Without any hesitation I started rubbing  glue on my hands like I had hundreds of times before.   The girl sitting across from me yelled "What are you doing?" I proceeded to stare right back at her and give her a funny look like, everybody does this silly.

That was one of the first times I got an inkling that I might be different. As I got older different grew to be worse, less or  a negative connotation of special, but please learn from my mistake. If you do something differently than someone else you're just rocking out to a slightly different radio station, that's all.   Frequencies to life are how people go down their path; there is no right or wrong. It  didn't matter if other kids  were weirded out by my glue picking because it worked for me.

I talked to an occupational therapist that works with kids a few months ago and I asked her if they still  use the glue picking technique. She informed me that technology had advanced from that.   That made me a little sad.    I have a confidence in my right thumb  and forefinger that I just don't have in my other eight fingers.   I must thank my friend Elmer for his contribution to my success!   Have the courage to pick glue no matter who is watching.

Thanks for reading! 

Chris