Trendy

It is strange to think that our kids are old enough now to be jumping on trends, but apparently, they are. The very first craze to take over the Cook kids are Silly Bandz. (Since I'm sure my parents have no idea what I'm talking about, these are elastic bands that, when unstretched, take on different shapes: cars and trucks, animals, princesses and crowns, etc. The point is to collect as many different shapes as you can so you buy a package and then trade the duplicates with your friends. In the meantime, you wear your collection around on your wrist.)

I really don't see any downside to this. Silly Bandz are under $5 a package so it's not like the Cabbage Patch Kid craze of 1983 or the Tickle Me Elmo craze of 1991. Pretty much everyone can afford to buy into this trend and I think the prospect of Liam spending recess time trading away is cute. (To be honest, I don't think he has done any trading yet, but I saw a kid in his class wearing her Bandz the other day, so I'm encouraging him to wear his to school one day next week to see what happens.)

Thanks to Gramma and Grampa for the very first package of Silly Bandz, and for getting us hooked in the first place.