Like many of my generation, I was a latchkey kid, and a forgetful one at that. Inevitably I would find myself, fresh off the school bus, kicking in the front door molding or climbing in my bedroom window. I didn't mind my latchkey status, any more than I minded my bookworm status, though it's debatable which came first. Anyways, I became a latchkey kid when my mother's business took her to such exotic locales as Orlando and Phoenix, for weeks at a time. Out of the generous spirit that being free of one's kids for any prolonged amount of time can bring (that or guilt), my mom started bringing back, along with miniature soaps and bottles of shampoo from the hotel, these little charms from all the different places she went.
My first charm was a silver pineapple from Charleston, which my mother informed me was a symbol of welcome and hospitality. Soon the entire family caught wind, and it seemed like every other week I was fastening on a tiny Swiss coat of arms from my grandmother (or grandmutter) when she went overseas, a unicorn from the renaissance fair my sister's girl scout troop visited, or a lilliputian Tinkerbell from my aunt's trip to Disneyland.
As I got older I started collecting my own charms: a pentagram from Salem, a capital building from Washington D.C., a maple leaf from Canada. Even just a few years ago, as a college student, I lived for a month in the Virgin Islands, scraping by on the pity of locals and a few hundred dollars, and I still managed to bring back a charm.
At this point, my charm bracelet is so full I can barely lift it, much less wear it. It's no longer really a piece of jewelry at all, but a reminder of my family, and their lives when they were younger, and my life, the places I've been, up 'till now.
Which is to say I think the charms and bracelets we sell here at Area Kids are a fantastic idea, because I can say with some certainty that they're something your kids will keep forever, and can say with absolute certainty that they're something a kid will keep until they're 23. (I just added an Area charm last week).
