Though I like to think I'm trendy I often find myself pondering the plethora of store products available to today's consumers. Sometimes I wonder how we ever survived without them and, at other times, what the world's coming to.

Which is why nothing makes me smile quite like Peeps the marshmallow chicks that have made kids giddy for more than 50 years.

It all began in 1910 when Sam Born arrived in the United States from France where he had been busy perfecting the art of confection. In 1917 he opened a chocolate shop in New York City where he would place a "Just Born" sign in the window whenever a new batch of chocolates was ready. The name stuck.

Because Pennsylvania is to chocolate what Tennessee is to country music, Just Born relocated there in 1932. But it wasn't until 1953 that Born became the father of Peeps when he bought the Rodda Candy Co.

Up until that time the chicks had been made the old-fashioned way by squeezing marshmallow through a pastry tube one at a time. But, following in his father's footsteps, Bob Born invented a machine capable of producing loads of chicks at once. And it was a good thing because, to this day, Peeps remain the best selling non-chocolate Easter candy.

Peeps have since taken the forms of Christmas trees, snowmen, hearts, pumpkins and cats. And the signature sunny chicks, which also now also come in pink, blue and lavender, share shelf space with their Easter buddies bunnies. But, despite all their changes, a Peep is a Peep, and I find that comforting.

About this time of year, as at every other holiday, I make a point of rummaging through the seasonal T-shirts for my growing girls. I figure a snowman can be worn from November to March in Nebraska, and a bunny is appropriate from March until there's snow on the ground. Valentine t-shirts are trans-seasonal. At $5 a pop I usually stock up.

But a couple of years ago I came across an Easter T-shirt that said, "Hangin' with my Peeps." And I had no idea what that meant.

Apparently I'm not at all savvy when it comes to slogans on shirts. My sister said as much when I nearly bought what, at first glance, was an imitation ski T-shirt. Let's just say the slopes were strategically placed and, though the lodge was fictional, the message was inviting. So, sadly, I never go shopping without bringing my inner gutter-dweller along for consultation.

But on that particular day my daughter was with me and had become fixated on the seemingly harmless T-shirt. There was no distracting her. Peeps are like that.

"But what does it mean?" I asked.

"Mom! Geesh! It just means what it says!" she was rolling her eyes.

"But that doesn't make sense, does it?" I was really trying.

"It means 'Just hanging out'!"

"So, 'Peeps' means "

"People!" she snapped. She was forgetting who taught her what she knows!

So I bought the T-shirt, telling myself it was just a new twist on an old favorite. Anyway, I'd call my sister to be sure. And I acquired a new vocabulary word which I continue to use now and then just to stay in practice. Ironically, my daughter thinks this makes me sound old.

This weekend we'll celebrate Easter with sweet worship and an Easter egg hunt, just like when I was a kid. And, once again, I'll experience the blessed dichotomy of being my parents' daughter and my daughters' parent all at once. It seems that, either way, I'm a little daft.

But either way, rest assured, my day will be filled with Peeps: the ones that fill our baskets and the ones that fill my heart. And that makes me giddy.

Kristen Friesen is a wife and mother of three girls and lives in Grand Island. She grew up on Cottonwood Drive in Lincoln, where she learned much of what she passes on in this column. Contact her at hervoice@theindependent.com.