Stickerphobia and Contact Paper

Ok, it may be silly to admit this right from the beginning, but I want to be straight with you…

I am a stickerphobic.

That’s right. I have a fear of stickers.

How weird is that? I admit it’s pretty weird. It’s not like a fear of heights or snakes or spiders or… cotton balls… 😉

It’s a very real phobia, though, since a phobia stops you from accomplishing real life. And as a mom, there will be stickers in my life. That’s just a fact.

Some recent stickers (or sticker-like things) I’ve encountered include:

Sticker for voting

Sticker at bank given to son

Tape on a box to mail

Bandaid on a cut

Stickers on my son’s potty reward chart

Sticker on cart at grocery store

Sticker on cart seat at grocery store

Stickers everywhere on fruit and vegetables

Ok, I gotta ask about that last one. WHY?!!! Why must there be stickers on food?! Ugh.

The only thing worse than a sticker on food? Half a sticker after you bit into an apple.

Ach. Physically gagging right now just thinking about it.

And the only thing worse than that?

Wet bandaids at the pool. Oh dear God in heaven what hell is this. I seriously avoid public pools for this reason. Not the pee mixed into the water. No. The wet bandaid.

Ok, enough gagging.

My point is, as a mom I knew I’d have to deal with this phobia on a regular basis. Even more important is to ensure my children don’t end up like me because frankly, it’s the weirdest, craziest phobia I’ve ever heard of and it’s ridiculous that I can’t just get over it.

I mean, I can’t even go to a Jamberry nail party to support my sister-in-law (though if you’d like to do the honors, here’s her link: https://kaarinmvp.jamberry.com/us/en/) because sitting in a room just watching other people apply stickers to themselves would make me sick.

Seriously, it’s ridiculous.

So what’s this got to do with today’s craft? Well, I admit I force myself to use stickers in crafting frequently. Sticker letters, washi tape, sticker appliqués–you get the idea. And contact paper has often come up as a craft option and I’ve always wanted to try it. But…it’s basically just an extremely big sticker/sticky surface…

Well, I finally faced my fears and discovered…I love contact paper! It’s so fun and easy to put whatever you want on it! And when it’s finished, seal it up and it’s no longer sticky! Huzzah!

So here’s what we did today…

While Bean did his craft, Mommy worked on hers…

So, in the end, I guess stickers do have a place in my world. And maybe, if I’m careful, I may come to love all stickers… But not stickers on food. That’s just crazy…