I’m starting this off with a good ole’ reminiscing of the 90s, as so many people do, but just go with me for a minute. Think back to the 90s, especially if you were a kid in the 90s.
Remember Slap Bracelets and how much trouble we’d get in for slapping other people with them? I remember putting them around my pony tale or taking the outside cover off to find that the metal was like a cut up tape measure…and to think all that time I thought they were magic.
Remember Kooshballs? I just loved to play with those things, they were so relaxing, until I had picked all the strings out of them…
What about Pogs…those things were 90s kids currency! I remember you were only cool if you had the heavy one’s that were not just made out of cardboard.
Pop up Pencils were the best, if you were lucky your school sold them in the pencil vending machines for a quarter!
Then there are Tamagotchis….our little pocket pets that we had to feed and water. Or maybe you had a gigapet?
Remember Lisa Frank, she captured our attention with the bright colors. I ended up getting a sick feeling every time I saw Lisa Frank stuff because all it reminded me of was summer being over and going back to school!
I remember when I got my first Furby, it was at my 8th birthday party at Pizza Hut! Remember sticking your finger on its tongue to “feed” it? LOL
My pre-teen years consisted of Hit Clips….I think EVERYONE had one! Honestly, these things were pretty cool.
Yup, those were the days, when we had cool toys and we could just be kids and play with our cool toys….and now we have those memories. For a lot of us we look back at these trends and toys from our generation and feel a connection to a simple and happy time in our lives. We feel a 90s kid pride to be identified by the toys of our generation. Our toys were simple, silly and some were just dumb inventions that our parents wished they had invented, but they were ours and we will always have those memories.
So what about the kids these days? What silly toys will one day be a treasured memory for them? What stupid little toy do all of us parents wish we had invented? I bet you know where I am going. How could I not go there? You see them everywhere and they are highly debated….but why?
Yes, the Fidget Spinner or Tri-Spinner…whichever the kid in your life calls it.
I’ve heard so much debate over these toys…..
“Do I buy them for my kid, do I not?” “These are just for autistic kids.” “My kid doesn’t need a toy to help keep him calm!” “My kid fidgets enough as it is.”
When my son first came home with a fidget spinner, my first reaction was to ask him where he got that cool toy. He excitedly told me, “mom a kid at school let me borrow it for a day, it’s called a tri-spinner, can you get me one PLEASE!” I said, “well maybe, let me look on amazon.” Once I saw you could get them for $1, I was pleased to grant his request! I ordered them without knowing what they were “meant for.” I just let him be a kid and play with toys.
Let me tell you something about fidget spinners that you may not know…
The first fidget spinner was actually invented in the 90s when a women saw some boys throwing rocks at police officers. She wanted to create something that could help kids release energy and promote peace. I don’t know about your kids, but my son has a lot of energy sometimes and toys help him stay occupied and a lot of times they promote creativity. Here is a picture of my son balancing his fidget spinner on his nose.
My son isn’t autistic, he doesn’t have ADHD, he is a very active and talented boy who loves to play indoors and out. He’s just a kid making memories and living out his generation, just like the rest of us did when we were kids.
So whether it’s tri-spinners, fidget cubes, hex bugs, stacking cups or whatever your kid plays with….just let them play! They are only kids for a very short time and the peaceful memories of their favorite toys will last a lifetime.
In a world where kids are highly influenced by technology and there are few safe places for them to just be kids…I encourage you to skip out on the debates about who should play with fidget spinners and just let the kids play. Don’t debate away your kids childhood…it goes too fast.
To all Parents:
I pray wisdom over you in deciding what is right for your family, because at the end of the day, you are accountable for the way you raise them.
Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from him.”
Luke 12:48 tells us, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”
As parents, we have been given a great reward from God, you see it written right there in the Bible. You also see that to those who are given much, much will be required. As parents we are entrusted with raising a life that we need to not only physically care for, but also help to develop mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
I’ll leave you with this final scripture that you’ve likely heard a million times before, but it is so true. Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
God Bless,
Kendra
Kendra Lewis 