Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Smencils: The Answer to Everything

Need a birthday gift or just a little token of your affection for a budding artist? Look no further: Smencils are here.

Eliza the Coloring Queen received a 10-pack of these for a holiday gift a while back. Do you remember, as a kid, using those scented Mr. Sketch markers? Okay, well, these are better. They're made from recycled newspaper, come in gourmet scents, stay fresh in their individual biodegradable plastic tubes, and arrive in a handy dandy zippered carrying case. Sample scents: Cinnamon. Root Beer. Grape. Mmmmmm. Coloring has become an olfactory event around here.

Apparently, Amazon carries them: Educational Insights Smencils Colored Pencils 10-pack (I know: big surprise!)

I ordered Eliza's from Rainbow Resource Center when a friend and I put a large order together for free shipping. And I gave myself a little bonus: a peppermint-scented Smencil. (Tangent: When I was in college, my best friend's mother gave us a piece of valuable advice which I will now pass along to you. When you have the urge to buy something new, but the budget does now allow, go out and buy yourself a nice new pencil. Urge satisfied; credit history intact.)

Here's the thing with the peppermint-scented Smencils: Peppermint, among those in the know, stimulates the gray matter.  The pencil case reads -- and I quote -- "Studies have shown that peppermint may help improve mental agility and concentration."

This is such a relief, y'all. Simply by using this pencil on a regular basis -- so far I've failed to use it at full potential -- I should soon be able to answer pressing questions such as the following:

- Will my newly vacuumed floors ever stay clean for longer than thirty minutes?

- How is it that a child who will wearing T-shirts in the dead of winter can comfortably sport jeans and a sweatshirt through a full hour of tennis this morning?

- When I have a rainbow-colored pack of plastic kid plates from IKEA, all equally scratched and shabby,  what is so all-fired special and desirable about the green one?

- If I donate to one charity, how come I suddenly get phone solicitations from ten of them? Do they share my name with one another? Don't they realize that's kind of counterproductive, given my finite pool of resources, or do they just figure me for a sucker?

- Can you give someone an education, or is that something you can only help him or her give to him- or herself?

- How can I convince Steve Jobs that donating an iPad to enhance our home-educating lifestyle would be to his advantage?

- What should I make for dinner tonight that everyone will eat?

Excuse me. I need to go take a few whiffs of my pencil.

5 comments:

Anne said...

Ooh, I know the answer to some of those!!

That would be a NO on the vaccumed floors. Freshly mopped floors are subject to the same principle - minus about 25 minutes.

And the green one? I want the GREEN one! He had the green one yesterday, he always gets the green one, I asked for it first...well, I THOUGHT about asking for it first!

You're on your own after that. ;-)

Raji P. said...

LOL! can I come over for a sniffing party? or should we meet in a dark alley after dusk? :)

~cjoy said...

i like the advice your friend's mom gave. pencils, though, could break me if i'm not careful. they're an addiction. like notebooks and pens. methinks i know some kids (and a grown up, perhaps) who'd like those smencils. bet we find them lying around before too long. :)

ps-my oldest loves green. my daughter adores brown. of my varying colors of plates, those two are specifically "theirs" and are N E V E R to be switched, or fighting may ensue.

Toddler Knows Best said...

These are sold in a certain elementary library by a certain librarian who shall remain nameless. They are constantly sold out. And Root Beer is the BEST flavored Smencil!

Jordan said...

Smencils, besides being really fun and popular, make for a great fundraiser. Eco-friendly and no junk food to sell.