10 Comments
User's avatar
williamphaynes/elliott's avatar

Happy new year

Rebecca Rocket's avatar

Hapoy New Year, Elliott! I hope you have a lovely one.

lee's avatar

People microwave water???

Rebecca Rocket's avatar

They do! To add tea bags or espresso shots or hot cocoa mix.... I've had to do it in offices myself. But if I'm home: stovetop kettle, 100%.

lee's avatar

Had the luck of always working in offices that had water coolers that had a hot water option… wait is that why there’s stickers on microwaves that remind you to not leave a spoon in the cup haha- but yeah at home electric tea kettles all the way, I even use it when trying to get a pot boiling faster.

Rebecca Rocket's avatar

My current office(s) have hot water options, thank goodness! And I'm totally with you on cheating the boiling to make it faster. Except not this time of year, because I'm doing my in-place marching 😝

Christopher Robin's avatar

I was reading someone yesterday talking about digging through old bins of art supplies, trying them out, then donating them if they don't resonate. Instead of buying new art supplies, new books, new things, I like the idea of playing with what we already have.

Rebecca Rocket's avatar

Yes! You've hit the nail on the head, Christopher! I want to use what I have and avoid the siren call of new supplies. I tend to treat art supplies, in particular, as overly precious... it's like bad college habits around investing $7 in a tube of watercolor; it's too valuable to use it freely. But if I'm not using it at all, what good is it doing (me or the watercolor)? Also, now I can afford a new one if I really need it. 🤣

The only place I get stuck is that I don't know which supplies are the kids' favorites yet. Like, my mom was an amazing graphite artist and I tried and tried as a kid, but it never spoke to me. She kept other mediums on hand until I found what I did like. So, I'm also trying to be mindful about which mediums we keep around. But it also means I have to keep up skills in multiple mediums so I can get them started at least. 😝 Parent problems....

Christopher Robin's avatar

Totally. I'm constantly throwing different stuff at my kids to see what interests them. They've dabbled in lots over the years, but nothing has really stuck yet. My philosophy is to introduce them to all kinds of stuff and let them choose what speaks to them.

Rebecca Rocket's avatar

Kindred spirits! Mine are definitely too young to pick anything yet. But they have already enjoyed supplies that I didn't like (like water-soluble crayon) which makes me cautious to give anything away vs. putting it in their hobby box to see if it calls to them later.