The Kids These Days

It's so amusing to me to watch my niece and nephews navigate their ways through elementary and Junior High School. I especially like to see their excitement over The Book Order. Do you remember these? The Book Order pamphlet was like the Bible in my day - you'd pore over it and pick out all the books you dreamed about. If you were really lucky whatever you chose would also come with a free poster (Hang in There!) or some scratch-and-sniff stickers. It's been a million years since I was in elementary school and I can still remember the way my book order smelled when it came in. Is that insane? I like to see the trends they're into - these days, the big trend seems to be these Silly Bands. Now, I don't really understand the lure of the Silly Band other than they're colored rubber bands that originally are shaped like animals or instruments or some other cutesy thing. In my day (did that phrase really just come out of my mouth?) we had the shiny plastic rubber band bracelets (a la Ricky Schroder in Silver Spoons who sported the black ones) and the jelly shoes. But my arm wasn't filled with these rubber bands, nor did I find true delight in trading them like cards. Still, I think it's cute to watch them get so excited over these things and their little arms fill to the brim with every color of the rainbow. And, yes, I've traded for a few myself and own at least three of them (hey, Auntie needs to be relatable, you know) that I sport on a regular basis. Don't be jealous.