Added: 07/29/2007 |
Why Encourage Your Daughter to Make a Friendship BraceletSo many trends of any generation mirror the technological advances of the culture. From the transistor radio to the ipod teenagers have been making their parents wonder where the good old days went where one could just enjoy the simple things. One trend that requires little technological savvy or big bucks is the friendship bracelet, still going strong after many years and considerable change in culture.
The tradition of friendship bracelets came into American Culture in the 1970's and continues to this day. One of the many likeable aspects of the friendship bracelet is the skill and ability it takes to make one. Unlike buying your friend a gift, this is a labor of love. What’s more these can be given year round, there is no need to wait for a birthday or holiday. There is a series of patterns that young women can choose from and each requires an understanding of hand craftiness that hasn’t been seen in the household since young girls sat down to do embroidery with their aunts and mothers. There is something wholly womanly about this art that young girls seem to be hungry for. The expression of affection, the commitment to the relationship, the labor of love, these are values softly whispered into the knot craft red and purple friendship bracelet that may be hanging, half way done, by a safety pin on your fourteen year olds jeans. To encourage them to finish what they’ve started for a friend, or to begin their first one, is to give them one of the now culturally rare experiences of hand making something for a loved one.
One of the problems that might arise with the friendship bracelet is that it cannot be removed until it has worn out, which could lead to some conflicts within the family. This means that your sisters’ wedding where your daughter is one of the bridesmaids may be a little marred by the seemingly inappropriate bit of now faded and frayed cloth bracelet still hanging on by a few threads. However, if this is the extent of your daughters’ rebellion, breath a sigh of relief and apologize to the rest of the wedding party. Know that this is important to your daughter to keep it on until it falls off. Taking it off before then, ends the friendship, and keeps a potential wish from coming true. Remind your family that all kids have small ways to declare themselves separate from the family, and to be grateful that this is not a nose ring, green mowhawk, version of that.
The friendship bracelet seems to be prevalent between girls. None of this is to say that boys are left out of the process completely. Often boyfriends and girlfriends will exchange the bracelets much in the way that teens would “pin” each other in the 1950’s. However, boys will not make bracelets for other boys, and the craft and practice remain very much a feminine and platonic act of love.
Ultimately this is a fun, creative, and traditional way for your daughter to express affection in a safe and open way. Make sure you encourage through compliments for her level of skill, making sure she has the thread and safety pins she needs, and that your approval isn’t so overwhelming that she begins to think it isn’t so cool after all. Kids do like to be different and your daughter shouldn’t be left out of that.
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