The ‘Fidget Spinner’ craze

With two pre-teens in the house, I witness my fair share of the latest craze making the rounds these days. We went through the Loom Bands phase, weaving one colorful rubber band through the other which I must admit was oddly satisfying!
After this we went through many weeks of the annoying bottle flipping phase.
Next up, was attempting to make home-made slime . Seriously we made slime We went through all our Elmer’s glue (essentially bought for school) and many, many boxes of cornstarch for ‘slime’.
And now, like many others, we are constantly spinning Fidget Spinners. In the car and at home, we have them with us.

I was introduced to Fidget Spinners by my kids, late one afternoon as I was picking them up from school. My son enters the car holding a green plastic three-pronged toy in his hand. My daughter starts interrogating him by the minute, which I can predict will turn into a verbal fight. A friend of his gave one to him in school, which is how he got his hands on it. All I can hear is a mild humming sound from the back. As I maneuver my way through the ridiculous school traffic, I understand from the conversation in the back seat that apparently this is the new craze hitting school grounds. Intrigued, by the popularity of this small plastic object, I ask my son, what is essentially the purpose of this toy?

Son: ‘It helps relieve anxiety and stress. You should totally get one Mama!’.

Me: ‘No thanks’. (I’ll stick to Xanax)

I doubt anyone has not heard about fidget spinners yet. But in case you haven’t, it is essentially an object which has prongs – usually 3. You place it between your thumb and forefinger and spin it.

It spins. And spins. And you know what. It spins some more. Yes, you can do some tricks with it. But essentially it just spins.

As I talk to my friends kids during car rides (in case you haven’t noticed with my posts, I get a lot accomplished during car rides), I find out, that they come in a variety of colors, designs and the price can range from anywhere as low as $2 all the way up to a hefty $400 or even higher. And everyone has one. Even adults.

Unfortunately, my daughter doesn’t have one yet and is often telling me how she is the only one in class without a Fidget Spinner. (Cue to drop my jaw in surprise). I make a mental note to eventually get her one. But my son comes to my rescue.

Son : ‘They are selling Fidget Spinners during recess. I can get one for her’.

Me: Who is ‘they’?

Son: Boys in school. They buy it from stores and sell it at a higher prices during recess.

Husband: Can the school grounds be used for making a sale? Aren’t there any legal repercussions?

Me: Wow. Making money huh! (And silently thankful they aren’t selling crack).

According to its manufacturers, Fidget Spinners were designed to help those with ADD/ADHD, and anxiety, but now they are in the hands of every child in class. The result – every student is being distracted in class and schools are moving to ban it across the board. It seems unfortunate though for the children who may actually benefit from such a tool.

My daughter is getting one for her birthday (so I can cross my name off the terrible mom list), but I am hopeful she won’t use it in class and spin it so hard that the bearings fall off and it goes flying across the room.

As I sit here and type this my son tells my he can spin the fidget spinner on most of his body parts! Should I even ask where?

He starts demonstrating his forehead… nose… knee. (And I stop him right there!)

I wonder how long this craze will last. Has your home or school been affected by the fidget spinner craze like mine? If it has, I offer you my sympathies.