As a child, keychains were one of the few objects that you got to curate yourself but also got to display widely, showing off to your classmates where you had been and in a sense, what was important to you. That being said, I really don’t remember what keychains I had hanging off the outside of my backpack, besides that at some point we were told that we could not bring Tamagotchis to school anymore.

Although I do remember having a keychain that I kept inside my backpack, securely zipped away and hidden in the front pocket so that my world would not be able to see it. The hidden keychain was a plastic photo holder that held a picture of my dad seated in a cupcake shaped chair while we were on vacation in New Hampshire.

I’m not sure when or how the decision took place to have it hidden, but I remember thinking kids would ask questions about why I had a photo of my dad, and I was relieved when my mom showed me that I could attach it to the inside of my backpack. My mom picked me up from school every day instead of having me take the bus, and while waiting in the library for her to pick me up, if I was by myself, I’d sometimes open the pocket and look inside, reassured it was there.

Small objects they can call their own seem to be oddly reassuring to children.