Kids and Holidays

I ❤️ holidays. Like, I am THAT Mom who milks a holiday for all its memory-making, life-distracting worth. I get SO very into them.
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My kids knew from the minute we walked into Target that Valentines is the next holiday to look forward to. For kids, exchanging valentines is high up on the exciting part of life list. And everyone knows that the best valentines are the best because of the awesome candy they are attached to. Duh.
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Why is that? Why do we celebrate holidays with so many sweets? I’m not against the idea of special foods for holidays. I’m talking the sugar OVERLOAD. We all know it’s coming with Halloween, Christmas, Valentines. I’m a mother of five boys – it’s so easy to show our love and to celebrate with treats. I have done so, like most of America, for many past years.
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The more I have acknowledged and dealt with head on my sugar addiction, the more I look at what I’m scripting for my kids. Not because it’s trendy, or because I’m judging YOU, but because I’ve spent SO MUCH EFFORT painfully trying to correct decades of MY sugar habits and I want my kids to not have to go through that.
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So, last year and this year my kids were/are that kid bringing non-candy valentines to class. (Think oriental trading company type fare). It can be more time involved and sometimes more expensive than grabbing a box of candy Valentines from any store.
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This year I was THRILLED to see these in the $1 section at Target. Premade, with cute toy frogs, stretchy monkeys, and mini coloring books (those ones are $3 per pack). #hallelujah ??. I *might* have done a happy dance in the isle ?.
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It’s not a comfortable thought and there will be some things you are ready for and some you aren’t – but I challenge you to look at what habits you are scripting for your children. ❤️