A Note: I apologize for being a bit delinquent in posting recently, but we've been filling up on experiences that we look forward to sharing with you soon. I promise I'll be better. Promise.
To young children, earning the highly coveted spot on the family's refrigerator for creating yet another superb drawing, not coloring completely outside the lines, or making even the slightest improvement on a test is cause for celebration...and for making your siblings jealous. Growing up, my mother never really gave in to such traditions. I think they seemed a bit trivial to her.Nonetheless here I am, a grown adult who has been living on my own since I was 17 years old, and yet I've never been able to resist the urge to post something I'm really proud of on my refrigerator. This is an impulse I developed later in life, starting off as an ironic joke in my teens, with me using the amalgam of mismatched and broken magnets that clung to our fridge with no real purpose to affix my latest report card or a perfect score on a test for my "family" to see (just my mother and me at that point in time). In fact, I'm fairly certain that the third place ribbon I won at the Baldwinsville Turkey Trot in 2004 is still proudly displayed on my mom's refrigerator, nearly ten years later.
But somewhere along the line, the joke became engrained into my character. Whether earning a new title at work or paying off a student loan, the appeal to acknowledge this accomplishment where I'm reminded of it on a daily basis has never worn off. I'm sure a psychologist could have a field day with what this says about my psyche and my need for recognition, but it's also a positive routine that reminds me that hard work pays off and to celebrate the small victories in life. A bit trite, sure, but also true. How else are we expected to survive the rigorous monotony of adult life?
As you can imagine, having no means by which to post my latest achievement to the fridge has been a bit disconcerting. But was I going to let that stop me from posting in one way or another? I'm far too egotistical for that. So here's my slightly more technologically advanced refrigerator exhibit. Feel free to print it out and display it on your own refrigerator!
Ta da!
