November 01, 2010

I'm Not Trendy

When I was growing up, my parents reluctantly allowed me to keep up with the trends of the time... sort of. I received a Cabbage Patch Kid at Christmas, but only by default. If I remember the story my mom later told me, one of my aunts worked at a toy store and bought some extra dolls. One of my friend's moms wanted one of the dolls to give my friend for Christmas, but changed her mind at the last minute. My parents, who had spent months assuring me I would never, ever in my entire life get a Cabbage Patch Kid, decided to give me the "unwanted" one. Score.
In middle school, everyone wore a Coca-Cola rugby shirt. If you're in your 30's or beyond, you know the shirts I'm talking about. They were red and white and in the white stripe said "Coca-Cola." I'm a little fuzzy on the details of how I got mine. I either received it as a birthday gift or a hand-me-down. Either way, it wasn't bought during a back-to-school shopping spree, like the rest of my friends.
It's not that I grew up without "things." I just think my parents tried to draw a line. Sure, they indulged me, but if it wasn't a birthday or Christmas, chances are I was going to have to wait, trendy or not.
So here I am trying to keep up with the "must haves" for my daughters and I've learned I'm woefully out of the loop. Sure, somehow last Christmas I managed to figure out Pillow Pets would be THE gift of that year... and this year, too, based on the number of kids I've heard asking for them for Christmas already. But other than that, I guess I need to start paying attention. 
A few months ago I bought my daughters back to school shoes. They were on clearance and I had coupons. They were a bargain. They're cute. They have sparkles. When I showed my girls, one of them said "Oh, I think they're Twinkle Toes." I thought she was saying that because they're sparkly. Nope. I found out later there's an actual brand of sparkly shoes called Twinkle Toes... but that's not what I bought. (Nor would I because there is no way I am spending full price on four pairs of shoes!)
Last week, Halloween cards arrived from my aunt. Tucked in each card was a bracelet for my daughters. Each bracelet was a shape. "Snap bands!" they cried. What? I did some investigating at work and found out Snap Bands are quite popular right now... even among older kids. In fact one mom was telling me they've been banned at her daughter's school because they're too "distracting." Kids are trading them and arguing over them. 
So here I am, with four five-year-olds, realizing that I'm going to be in big trouble when I have four teenagers. I'll have no idea what's "hip"... and that probably won't be an acceptable term by then!

8 comments:

MaryAnne said...

They are called Silly Bandz here =)

The only reason I know is that Emma's BFF is very trendy. Emma becomes trendy in turn because the BFF gives us all of her clothes for Emma to wear as hand-me-downs! It will be a sad day when (if) Emma gets as tall or taller than her friend.

Quadmama said...

See! I don't even know the right name for them!

Triple U said...

I can definitely relate! I was also the child who never had the cool stuff (and I was an only child). I only had a Cabbage Patch Kid because my grandma gave me one for Easter. I'll never forget that day. I had to shop at May D&F for back to school clothes when my friends were shopping at The Gap and Beneoton. I did however have those bracelets. They were popular when I was in junior high - 1990-92ish - they were called slap bracelets back then.

Quadmama said...

I remember how excited I was the year I finally got to buy Gap jeans!

MandyE (Twin Trials and Triumphs) said...

I got a knock-off Cabbage Patch Kid the first year. I still loved her, though...her name was Mary Christine, and I think she was bought at a craft fair of some sort.

I remember those Coca-Cola shirts, too...and how much I wanted one. They were expensive, though, and my parents said they wouldn't pay money to advertise for a company...that company should be paying them. (That's actually a valid point in a lot of ways. And my Dad absolutely will not wear a shirt with a logo on it [like Tommy Hilfiger] to this day!) :)

I think I survived adolescence without a lot of trendy things, and I turned out OK. I am not actually worried about that for our girls. I'm much more worried about keeping up with technology and not looking like a dinosaur amid what I'm sure will be a pretty high-tech world.

Fun post!

Jacqueline Miller said...

Oh man, I totally forgot about those Coca Cola shirts!

Yes, I'm in trouble too. Mo came home from preschool talking about Zhu Zhu Pets one day, and that was just the very beginning.

Quadmama said...

I had a knock-off Cabbage Patch long before getting the real thing. And Zhu Zhu pets came into our house by accident... a gift from my sister.

Renae said...

I'm not sure how Silly Bandz made them into our house, but Tiny has one (just one) and loves it. I put it away at the end of the summer, and she hasn't asked for it since, but for a while, she wore it almost every day. I'm sure she didn't know it was the "cool thing to do", but that day will come. And hopefully I'll be ready. Once the kids start K, I'll be going back to classroom teaching. That should help me keep up, at least for a while. :o)

Post a Comment