Silly Bandz of various styles

Angela Verges | Contributor

Have you ever come across a new idea and said, "Why didn’t I think of that?" Silly Bandz, Crazy Bandz, Stretchy Bands or whatever you choose to call them, are an idea that has taken off. Ask your children if they know what these are, and they will probably say, “Duh, yeah!”

At first glance, these colorful bands look like ordinary rubber bands, but they’re not. They’re colorful bands that are worn as bracelets, and some even glow in the dark. When they’re not on your wrists, they resume their original shape of animals, letters, princesses, cartoon characters and more. An 8-year-old girl in my neighborhood said, “They even have rings and necklaces.”

I don’t know when the trend began, but it hit my household early summer. I purchased a package under the pretense that they were for my boys, but I selected the ones I wanted first. The sports pack included a baseball, baseball bat and home plate, among others. I noticed that when boys wear the bands they don’t wear nearly as many as the girls.

The New York Times called the bands, “The bracelets that spring off the shelves.” One store that I frequent had the bands strategically placed with the back to school items. Although the Silly Bandz craze is hot right now, parents have to use discretion as to when and where to allow their child to wear them.

According to a parenting article at Examiner.com some schools use the Silly Bandz as fundraisers, while other schools have banned them as being a distraction. A middle school principal in South Florida banned them saying, “They are a disturbance and have become a safety concern.” He said some students snap other students with them or use them as projectiles.

As with anything else we teach our children, we instill a sense of right from wrong and hope they will use their best judgment. Overall, Silly Bandz seem to be good clean fun. Many of the kids I’ve seem with them are using them appropriately. They trade them, collect them and watch them glow in the dark.

If you’re a product of the 80s you might just get excited over the Disco Bandz that are coming soon (if they’re not here already). Doesn’t this generate a flashback of Saturday Night Fever? "Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive."

If the Silly Bandz craze hasn’t hit your household, beware -- it may be coming soon.

Angela Verges is a writer and mother of two who sometimes walks on the silly side of life. She can be reached at awritersdream41@yahoo.com.