Grappling with what brand of peanut butter to buy, what kind of toothpaste to use, which of the forty different kinds of bread you should toast for breakfast? Wishing that you could return to childhood and go back to a simpler time and place? Think again. The graphic above shows how the number of crayons in a standard Crayola crayon pack has multiplied over time. Today, even toddlers must now contend with daunting decisions when doing something as simple as coloring their favorite Disney Princess’ dress or dinosaur’s claws. While some may view this trend as a direct assault on the innocence and simplicity of childhood, I wonder if these kinds of changes are actually better preparing children for a lifetime of complex (and sometimes meaningless) decision making. Next time we’re confronted with a wall of toothpaste choices, perhaps we should defer to our kids.
Or you could have the problem my toddler does and have a cheap mother who hates picking up crayons off the floor so you’re stuck with a box of with 8 colors. For now 8 colors is more than enough to choose from, particularly when I have to get them off the tile.
A world with more colors is a more beautiful world. I think we view too many things as a choice. Instead, we should think of them as trial periods. This month, Colgate. Next month, Crest. Or whichever toothpaste has a shinier redesigned box.