I love Crayola Markers

quit your side eye!

For context, I’m a Gen X mom (1979) who still uses a combo of three paper planners in addition to Google Calendar. OK? Proceed.

In life, we graduate from our writing instruments. We start with crayons and Crayola markers, move on to No. 2 pencils, and then hit a strange phase in adolescence where erasable pens and mechanical pencils become the rage. Both frustrated me equally. I guess we weren’t quite ready for the permanence of ink yet.

I was probably a teenager before my mom let me use her Sharpies. I was not to be trusted after the Christmas ornament incident.

Math was strictly pencil-only, which always annoyed me because some of my numbers looked their best in pen.

Eventually, we humans reach a stage where no one tells us what writing tools to use anymore. No school supply lists. No rules. We evolve, abandon pencils, develop pen preferences… or ditch pens entirely in favor of keyboards and screens.

My mom never did that. She never had a calendar on the computer. She committed her life to paper calendars and listmaking. Her favorite pen was a humble blue BIC ballpoint-one of the most basic pens you can find.

I always hated that she wrote in blue ink—and on legal pads, no less.

Here’s a sample:

HOW CUTE ARE HER NOTES FOR COPYING AND PASTING?

It drove me nuts when those BIC pens gooped ink all over the page. It was a nightmare for this child perfectionist. The only redeeming feature was the clip on the cap, which made it the perfect fidget toy to bite and mangle. My child shares the same fixation I do…

Look! I grabbed one of her pens at my parents’ house the last time I was there.

The funny thing is, her blue BIC was my Crayola marker. Let me explain.

People often laugh/give me the side eye when I tell them I love Crayola markers. It’s the WHYYY WOULD YOU USE THAT WRITING INSTRUMENT WHEN YOU CAN USE SO MANY MORE EXPENSIVE ONES THAT DON’T REMIND ME OF BEING A KID.

Like…why would you use a Bic pen, Mom?

Motherhood reintroduced me to crayolas. They’re cheap, cheerful, and were always on school supply lists. They’ve also saved me on road trips and helped me reinforce the idea to my child that restaurants were for art, not screen time. A white paper tablecloth never saw us coming!

I gravitate toward the bold, thick ones. The finer point ones are not my fave. The caps are very easy to lose. Ask me how I know.

Through trial and error, I figured out how to hold Crayola markers in a way that mimicked a brush pen. It’s kind of like how an ice skater finds the sweet spot on their skate with ice.

Here’s how I use them:

And honestly?

Some of my favorite lettering pieces were made with Crayolas.

They help make my life more colorful.

The point is: Some of the best writing comes from the humblest of tools. Perhaps you’ll like a pen better if you hold it at another angle. Don’t underestimate the power of a humble pen.

It’s the writing that matters most!