Thursday, February 12, 2009

what is up with all this excess?

Since when did Valentine's Day turn into Halloween? Nick's class had their VDay party today, and he came home with a ridiculous haul of candy, given to him by his classmates. I mean, when did VDay become like that? When I was a kid, you made your box and you brought your Valentines, which were made of paper and had no candy involved. Then, you exchanged your Valentines and called it a day. There was no candy, no treat bags (or entire plastic treat cups, full to the brim with different temptations). You would not believe what he brought home - two plastic cups full of stuff, several of those cellophane treat bags full of stuff - candy, lollipops, Cheetos, you name it! In addition to all the candy, he got little toys, like a top, pencils, etc. I guess I'm a complete slacker mom, because I didn't send any treats at all for the other kids - just paper Valentines. What are all these moms thinking? Do they really think it's necessary to do this on Halloween, Christmas, AND VDay? Doesn't anyone else find this all rather excessive? When Nick came home, he was on such a sugar high that he ended up being totally rude to me and then having a complete meltdown when I disciplined him. Sorry to go on so much, but I just think this whole thing of making elaborate treat bags for kids for every possible occasion has gotten way out of hand. What do you think?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. I remember just exhanging Valentine's cards and you were really lucky if there were a few conversation hearts stuck inside. Cooper gets so much candy now for every little thing that it's not even special. It's just expected. And what is with the Valentine's Day pinatas at Wal-Mart? When did this start? Must every holiday be an explosion of gluttony?

J said...

Uh-oh. I gave my staff little goodie bags for Valentine's Day. But there was only one chocolate treat in each bag. :-) I think I got a few of those Valentine cards where you stuck the sucker on it when I was a child, but that was about it. It was mostly just paper ones as well. Sounds like pure craziness! Hope Nick is feeling better now.

Anonymous said...

I guess it's my generation's fault because I remember getting (small amounts) of candy with my valentines. We also used to decorate heart shaped cookies with pink frosting and candy. I do have to say that it was not the sugar fest that nick had though. I think having a few treats with the holidays is fine but come on, moderation people!

Patty O. said...

I totally and completely agree. It is bad for these kids to end up expecting more and more treats for every minor holiday. Plus, think of all the sugar and dyes in the candy!! That said, I did send candy this year. It is the first time I have ever added a toy or candy for any holiday and I have been feeling the pressure (all self-inflicted, of course) so I bought Danny's newest fave, Lick em sticks and attached on to each of his cards. So, now I am completely being hypocritical!

Amber said...

I'm so with you on this. Zara also had her preschool party yeterday and I was flabberghasted at what she came home with. I threw some of it straight into the trash. Blaghhh. I guess I am just as bad though, we did send little packs of Harib gummies (only liek 4 bears in a package). The one good thing is that Zara and I have had many great talks about taking care of our bodies and not eating too much sugar. She is pretty good about it, heck we still have some of her Halloween & Christmas candy on top of the fridge. Oh, and it's not only the candy that just me, it's the fact that nearly all the valentines were a character of some sort, even Hannah Montana (for 3-4 year olds, geesh). These were only 2 homemade cards and none other than the ones Zara gave that weren't some tv character.

Amy Jane said...

Well, I'm guilty on the cards, Amber - Nick's were Spongebob! :)