On many large holidays now, candy and sugar seems to be a staple gift, especially among children. But it's more than a gift, it's an expectation.
Think about it. At Christmas, children come home from the school Holiday Party carrying candy-canes that stained their lips and tongue bright red or vivid green and rots their teeth. It's not Christmas without red and green m&ms, chocolates and candies.
At easter, the same thing, only in a different shape; little baskets filled with chocolate and candy eggs come home.
Hallowe'en goes without saying- sure, there's the original tinge of witches and warlocks and monsters, but what really does a child think of at Hallowe'en? The Candy. Pillowcases full of brightly coloured sugar confectionary.
And now what do I find has happened the Valentines day? What do my sisters bring home from their parties and with the cardboard meaningless Valentines they recieve from (and give to) everyone in the class?
Candy. Chocolate. Sugar. Valentines Day has been sugarised, just like all the other holidays. Cinnamon hearts and Hershey kisses join the ranks of other Holiday Candy, to be consumed in giant amounts on one day a year. A party doesn't seem to be a party unless cheap chandy is provided, in vast amounts and colourful packages. It is consumed in the tons by unsuspecting cheerful and quickly expanding children.
I feel a strange sense of loss, even for the commercial holiday Valentines Day always was. For children, all these holidays are is candy, another excuse to comsume candy that parents can hardly stand up against: "But Mooooom, it's Valentine's Day!"
I'm not against not celebrating with perhaps a little extra chocolate. I love looking for easter eggs and munching extravagent amounts of chocolates on Christmas Eve, but does every Holiday have to go this way down into the depths of commercial sugarisation?
Bring back apples for Hallowe'en! Bring back oranges stuck with cloves for Christmas! Bring back a couple of small eggs for easter (and a real egg, docorated by hand and then smashed and eaten)! And bring back for Valentines a hug, a kiss and a card. It should be enough.
You know it's bad when commercialisation is the least of our worries.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Well if you're successful in your campaign, I'm sure you'll have the undying thanks of countless teachers. I shudder to think what it was like in most elementary schools this afternoon.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
But the dentists will hate you.
I agree completely Teshi. I think Australia is not so bad in the sugarising (yet) - we don't have nearly the amount of theme candy for holidays. But we are certainly on the path.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I was just thinking about how candy coated these holidays are. But, there are post holiday chocolate sales to consider... What a conspiracy.
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
Far be it from me to argue against chocolate.
But the way the holidays are expanding--even before Halloween ends, Christmas items appear in stores--does tend to spread the candy sales out immensely, and I suppose that's not good.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
"cardboard meaningless valentines"
Yikes. That actually made me cringe. My kids both enjoy giving and getting valentines in class. Believe it or not, they take great care in picking certain valentines they feel their classmates will like, and are really excited to read the valentines they receive.
space opera
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
I agree with Space Opera, its the thought that counts, and knowing that someone was thinking of you, even if it is expressed through a cardboard valentine card with spongebob on it, is a very nice thing.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
Huh? Valentine's Day is about candy. Candy and flowers. Candy and flowers and mass-produced greeting cards. Always has been. Complaining about Valentine's Day candy is like complaining about all the people eating turkey for Thanksgiving nowadays, or all the people worshipping Jesus at Easter nowadays.
I don't care one way or the other about the candy, but I say let's just abolish Valentine's Day altogether and get it over with.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: My kids both enjoy giving and getting valentines in class.
I believe it. I even understand it; I see my sisters coming gleefully back with their Valentines (my elder one brought home only one, which makes me think she has a few she's embaressed about, hee hee) and of course it's better than nothing. It just seems to me missing something. A spark.
And I'm not complaining solely about the candy of Valentines (which I know is a packaged holiday) in particular, but the candy that fills and in some cases dominates all holidays.
I dunno. I may be just bitter .
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
So, do we want our kids to remember the true meaning of Valentines day--sex!
sure, we say its love, but we all know its about proving to the signifigant other that you still find them hot and yummy.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
That's definately the meaning of the mini-baby-boom in August.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I'd rather have chocolate than flowers myself. You can't even eat flowers. But, I'd also rather have a 100 year old pocket watch than a wedding ring. I am such an abnormal girl.
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
*Reads while munching Valentines Jelly Bellys*
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
As someone to whom sugar is truly a drug with ferocious effects, I HATE candy holidays. Why can't we have Valentine's meat sticks or something? This year, I made my family a HEART for Valentine's day. I marinated it with pomegranate juice and put various herbs in the crockpot. It was delicious, nutritious, and sugar free. As a present, I gave my daughter a basket full of books and my husband some...exercise.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
What, no comments on my Valentine's feast?
Posted by Brian J. Hill (Member # 5346) on :
quote: That's definately the meaning of the mini-baby-boom in August.
Considering August is only 6 months after Valentines Day, I'd say it's definitley a miniature baby boom.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
A heart? That is cool and revolting at the same time. But, I ate a heart once and it didn't taste bad. Very hearty.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"Valentine's meat sticks"
That is funny. My husband has been Mr. Beef Jerky in the past year. The beef jerky is so good that people beg for it, and "jones" for it, as much as they do for chocolate.
I actually had an idea for marketing beef jerky in little gum-stick shapes, in packs of gum. Heck, it is meat gum, really, when you think about it.
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
Hmmm. All I expect for Valentine's is chocolate. I don't careif I get flowers, or a card, or sex, but it woudln't be Valentine's without chocolate.
Now, I have Easter to look forward to, and making organic peanut butter eggs with dark chocolate.
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