Outside the Lines

My folks always demanded perfection. They made me feel like I was a disappointment to them if I didn't get the highest grades in school. It soon transformed me into a competitive "machine" and I felt that being second was the same as being last. It probably played a big role in my career choices. I always felt driven to climb as close to the top of the corporate world as I could. But I was never happy.
Now that I'm an old guy, I can look back and see how important it is for parents to encourage their kids to do the best they can, but parents must also temper it with love, understanding and (most of all) the acceptance of the child just the way they are and for who they are. That's what "Outside the Lines" is all about.


Outside the Lines

When I was three they bought me
Some crayons and a book,
But I could never show them
That I had what it took.

It looked so very simple,
Those pictures of all kinds,
But every time I colored,
I went outside the lines.

Mom and Dad could do it with
The greatest of all ease,
And I would try so very hard,
I wanted so to please.

I'd go upstairs and practice
in my room and close the door,
Just me, my little coloring book,
And my box of twenty-four.

When I turned four my coloring
Was still not very great,
The difference was I colored with
A box of forty-eight.

I'd square off with a blank page,
And a crayon gripped so tight,
But hard as though I tried to,
I couldn't get it right.

Those lines became obsessive and
I practiced more and more,
They bought me bigger coloring books,
And a box of sixty-four.

When I turned five they sent me
To the Kindergarten class,
Where coloring was graded and
I knew I had to pass.

I buckled down and tried so hard
To be the very best,
I never crossed a single line,
I beat out all the rest.

So I brought home my masterpiece,
And Mom permitted me,
To post it on the Frigidaire
For all the world to see.

My perseverance paid off, but
When all was said and done,
The coloring was work to me,
It never was much fun.

So if your child's starting on
A task for his first time,
Let him know it's okay if
He goes outside the lines.

Steven Pein
March 1993
Copyright 1994
.