Got Silly Bandz?

No? Well, don’t walk, RUN, to the nearest store and get some, if you want to be cool!!!

In case you have somehow missed this major trend, Silly Bandz have taken schools across the US by a storm. Everyone has apparently gone completely nuts over them. And it’s not just a little girl thing. Boys wear them too and according to this report, preteens, teens, and people in their twenties have fallen victim as well. And then there are the parents… Craziness, I tell you.

Our six-year old has been talking about them for months now. She’s been keeping a tally for us of all her friends that have them. And she has been asking for her own. We held out for quite a while but finally shelled out $3 and got a dozen.  She had been very good lately and got into the gifted program at her school. We wanted to do something special for her and that’s all she wanted.

But what are Silly Bandz anyway?  Why, they are glorified rubber bands, though in this case they are made out of silicone. They are colorful and come in a zillion different shapes – animals, letters, fantasy, princess, you name it. They come in solid colors, multi/rainbow, glow in the dark, glitter, and UV activated color changing.  Ours are the sea life, glow in the dark variety. They cost $2 - $6 a dozen. Now, I am no econ wiz but I’m pretty sure someone is making a killing with these. Why didn’t I come up with something like that?

What do they do with them?  They wear them on their wrists, they play with them and they swap them. They also apparently drive their teachers crazy with them, evidenced by the ever growing number of schools that have banned them because they are too much of a distraction. There’s also a concern that they may cause circulation problems in some kids, so there’s that to look forward to.