I grew up being rewarded with stickers, as young as I can recall.
My mom used to put stickers on my “chore chart” and I did everything I could to see those stickers add up! Eventually, as she replaced the charts, I realized I was unable to save the stickers. I remember asking her, when I was five, if she could place the stickers in a box, instead of the chart, so I could always keep them and look at them. Shortly after my request, she presented me with my first sticker book!
This sticker book meant so much to me! It was bright yellow with a huge, colorful rainbow across it. It had spiral binding and each page had a pocket and a fun way to file my stickers. I had sections for scratch ’n sniff stickers, glitter stickers, puffy stickers, glow-in-the-dark sticker, word stickers, etc. I even had a pocket for which stickers I wanted to share and trade. At five years old, my sticker book was my most precious possession!
When I would get stickers on my schoolwork, I began asking my teachers if they would not place the stickers on my paper, but rather give them to me intact – this way I could savor them and decide where I wanted to put them in my sticker book.
I collected stickers for years and years and my little book could no longer hold them all. My mom always encouraged me to use them on things, like pictures I drew, letters I wrote, or a huge poster board to hang over my bed – but I never wanted to use them.
Now that I’m grown, I still love and collect stickers but, I use them now, instead of keeping them all to myself! I love to place them on the many postcards and letters I write. I try to make them match the subject of what I’m writing about, my mood for the day, or how I think it will make another person feel. I even carry a few random stickers with me in my purse every day, just in case I can find a way to use one to make someone smile.
I don’t think I could ever have enough stickers to collect and especially to share! When I give you a sticker, you know you are special to me.
Misty
Waukesha, Wisconsin