*chuckles* I never even knew what a slide rule was for. But I did have an abacus. Thank goodness for calculators!
But that reminds me of the pointed compasses that we used in geometry class, and then one of my rather brilliant classmates jammed it into his thigh (I only hope on a bet) and they were banned after that.
And it's hard for a mom who's 39 to have twenty-something grandkids! *g*