I grew up with the attitude that when I was a parent, the generation gap would not exist. I would remain young, hip, and stylin' as I raised a family.

I gave that goal up 10 years ago. But sometimes my habit of keeping quality clothing a long time pays off. It seems that my hiking boots from high school are now retro chic. I wore these on long hikes in New Mexico on a 7 day backcountry adventure when I was in 10th grade. It was a Boy Scout Adventure Camp called Philmont, and I even "branded" the boots with the ranch brand.

Made of only leather and a good Vibram sole, they've held up over the years, much better than my super tech Gore-Tex hikers that fell apart last year in Idaho. I'm glad I kept them and hopefully they'll still give me some cred in 10 more years when Evie is in High School. Maybe another set of shoelaces by then?