Smencils, Chinese erasers, and Rubber Band Bracelets

As a grandmother, I have now entered into a new world of Smencils, Chinese erasers, and the hot world of rubber band bracelet fads, thanks to my two grandchildren, who live with me on a part time basis, along with their father. Years ago, as a mother, I went through the collections of baseball and football cards, garbage patch kids cards, comic books and of course, stickers of all shapes, sizes, as well as the smelly scratch ones.

Now, as a grandmother, I have been suckered into the new world of what my grandchildren are collecting. It is now the delicious world of Smencils, which are encased in plastic tubes and releases the aroma of different pencil flavors like, bubble gum, cinnamon, tropical blast, root beer, cotton candy, very berry, orange, watermelon, and a variety of others.

Chinese erasers are also hot collectible items, ranging from animal erasers, food erasers, and just plain things like soccer, football and baseballs, trucks, helicopters, and cars. Whatever you desire, you can pretty much find it out there. My granddaughter and grandson store their erasers in big size plastic baggies. They like to spread them out on the floor, see if they have any doubles, and then they exchange them with each other or with their friends.

On the heels of both is the wild rubber band fad. Let me tell you, kids are hot on the trail of this one. The newest fad is selling off the shelves as soon as they are stocked. Kids trade their doubles and actually wear a number of the colorful, shaped rubber bands on both wrists. Usually there are about 12 rubber bands in a package, ranging in brightly colorful silicone bands of a variety of shapes: dinosaurs, farm animals, zoo animals, sea, pets, different shapes and even glow in the dark ones. The bands can be pulled out of shape and snap back to their original shapes.

My grandchildren have bought or collected most of these collectible items. The day I took my grandson out and let him pick out the rubber bands that he wanted, he took them out of their packages and wore a number of them on each of his wrists. The others, he placed into a baggie and put them into his backpack to take to kindergarten that day. After school,. when he came home, I asked him about his day and his rubber bands. He gave me a big smile and said, "I was popular," and he ran out to play. The word "popular" summed up my grandson's feelings, the day, and the new collector fads.