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Last week the girls got their first set of Silly Bands. Have you heard of these? They are funny little Silicone bracelets in a variety of shapes and colors. My girls had not really shown any interest is these bands until the Neighbors brought them home from vacation.
The amazing thing is that within six hours the girls went from clueless to a full blown economy. They started out simply. They all examined eachothers’ bands and traded with each for shapes and colors they wanted. The kids quickly learned that there were some shapes that were more desirable than others. This lead to offers of 3 for 1 or 4 for 1 for the fancy bands. The kids spent hours setting up stores and negotiating and drooling over the bands.
Here’s the problem with this whole scenario: The older kids totally got it while the younger kids only thought they got it. The olders knew exactly what they were doing and what it meant to trade a ton of bands just to get one they really wanted. The two youngest girls (one of mine and one of the neighbor varieties) didn’t seem to understand the ins and outs. They were totally thrilled by every transaction and they were completely willing to GIVE AWAY their bands just to be part of a deal. You can see where this is going, yes?
By 2:00 the youngers had two bands left while the olders had bands that went from their wrists to their elbows. Don’t get me wrong. Nothing nefarious or devious happened. The olders tried to stop the youngers from giving away the house but the youngers were so excited by the thrill of the hunt that they would have been naked if this had been a game of strip poker!
This called for a major intervention by the House. I required the olders to give each younger two bands and instituted a moratorium on all band trading. While the kids spent some time detoxing I spoke to the pit bosses at the other houses to come up with a plan. While I appreciate the intricate economy the kids had developed (I was an economics major after all.) I hate seeing tears spilt over colored silicone bangles. The pit bosses all agreed that the Laissez Faire economy (check with wikipedia peeps) the kids had established was going to require some government intervention. From this point on, the kids could only do 1 for 1 trades. That way the kids should all end up with the same number of bands as they started with, unless they lose them in their incredibly messy bedrooms.
I was feeling quite satisfied with the trade embargo that I had successfully negotiated and I was under the impression that all trade partners were on board. That is until dinner time, when Kate (my younger) bubbled over with excitement about the 4 for 1 deal she wanted to make for a sweet castle band in purple. I think I better find an SBA meeting for that kid quick. Silly Bands Anonymous.