The silly (compulsive) addiction to silly bands

If you don't know what silly bands are, you must not have an elementary-school aged child around. I'd heard of the latest fad before the rival of my goddaughter and her family for a visit, but I'd never owned one. Never really aspired to, either. Now I'm wearing four and have several more.

Here's the scoop. Some genius invented a rubber band which comes not only in many, many colors, but in shapes. All kinds of shapes. Bags and bags of them in every souvenir shop and elsewhere.

My current collection includes a blue bunny, a lime green palm tree, a yellow flower and an orange flower and a blue dinosaur. Some of these glow in the dark, which is a little disconcerting when going into the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Mine were presented to me by my goddaughter's five-year-old. His two-year-old sister immediately claimed the first batch. "Mine," spoken loudly and convincingly, is one of her favorite words. I have a new collection. You don't argue with a princess!

Yesterday the kids' grandparents -- old friends from my college era -- and I went to visit some of my family. We were all wearing silly bands, something duly noted by my cousins. At their house, though, only a five-year-old has them. Perhaps he hasn't learned to share...or we're just far too compliant with the the little ones around here.

At any rate, aside from wishing I'd been the one to dream up this concept, I love the idea that all the kids in the house are sharing and trading these things without fussing and fighting. They're a relatively inexpensive way to put a smile on a kid's face and to unite generations at a family gathering.

That's probably giving way too much importance to a rubber band, but, hey, I'm just a kid at heart, and I love my blue bunny!