NKOTB Rule! These words were written in chalk on our garage wall for years. It was the 1980s, and my youngest stepdaughter was swooning over New Kids on the Block.  Now, almost 32 years old, she’s swooning once again.

NKOTB is coming out with a new album, and the group is planning a reunion tour. Can you believe it?

If you were a teenager — or lived with one — in the late ’80s and early ’90s, you’re aware of the New Kids phenomenon. At one point in our house, the song, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” played so many times, I considered blowing my mind with a pistol.

I happily stayed home when my husband took his daughter to New Kids concerts in cities around the country. When she called weeks ago and told us about the reunion tour, she and her dad knew they would have to relive those musical moments.

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Unfortunately, NKOTB is not coming to Baltimore. The closest concert venue is Atlantic City. Seats on the floor sold out there in 12 minutes. My husband is working every connection he can in trying to find decent seats.

Of course, the “new” Kids experience won’t be the same as the old one. The band’s five members are approaching 40. Four of them have kids. They even have facial hair. I guess they figure if Mick Jagger can still draw big crowds at 64, they should be able to pull this off.

The reunion says a lot for the power of nostalgia. Concert halls will be filled with thirty-somethings, returning to their teenage days, squealing and shrieking just as if 14 years had not gone by.

Clearly, NKOTB did blow their minds and will do it again. And those of us who were too old to get excited the first time around will just shake our heads in wonder. After all, this isn’t Elvis. It’s not the Beatles. But to my stepdaughter, it’s too good to be true. If she’s driven to play the group’s new album as much as she played the old ones, it’s OK. Her boyfriend is the one who now will have to listen ad nauseam.