We do things differently, and that's okay!

As we're sitting in church one Sunday trying to keep the kids happy with treats, toys, and crayons I started looking around me to see what other parents were doing to occupy their little ones. I saw one mom opening up a Lunchables (you know, the crackers, cheese, and ham) for her little girl to eat, another mom was cutting up paper with scissors making origami for her little boy, and right next to us a family with several young children were coloring at their bench with a GALLON sized ziplock bag completely packed with crayons (I mean, do you REALLY need THAT many crayons?). It made me think of that scene from the Singles Ward 2 where the mom is pouring milk into cereal bowls and passing out full sandwiches to keep her kids quiet. I guess it wasn't that much of a stretch if you compare it to what I've seen in my ward!
It also brought to mind an experience I had as a Freshman at BYU. I was taking a test at finals time in the Joseph Smith building auditorium. I was getting settled in when something caught my eye that I could not stop looking at. A guy in the row in front of me had a big pile of unsharpened pencils in his lap; I'm talking at least 20 pencils. He was not taking his test, but was sharpening these pencils with a KNIFE! Is that normal? I had to peel my eyes away from the scene to concentrate on my test. Are you even allowed to bring knives to school? I don't know.
But, it's experiences like this that make me realize that we all do things in different ways and that's okay! I'm perfectly fine with using a pencil sharpener on my ONE pencil, or using a mechanical pencil for that matter. I'm also perfectly fine with bringing just 6 crayons for my boys to use during sacrament meeting and only giving them one box of raisins each for their snack. I already have too much to bring to church without packing an overnight bag full of entertainment options. But, it's like they say, 'different strokes for different folks!' Whatever works for you!