FREAKIN VALENTINES!
I hate it. And NO, it isn’t because I had horrible Valentine experiences as a child or something. I hate that we are caught up in this commercially driven ‘special day’ designed purely to get money out of our pockets.
Crunchy Husband and I have long had a deal that we would avoid it (though I do do sucky cards) and celebrate our own thing when We want to.
What I hate is how the kids get suckered into it at such a young age.
I was given a list of the 40 kids at Adam’s preschool for card making. FORTY.
They apparently will have bags for each kid to put these cards in. WHY?
When I was a kid. We made special ‘craft’ cards for our parents and that was pretty much it. Yes, I remember giving and being given ‘secret’ cards from my admirers, but again…it was NOT a school driven activity.
I don’t think it should be. I hate perpetuating a false celebration and starting the whole competitive nature of it at such a young age.
But what do I do? I can’t NOT give stuff. So here I am spending money and making stuff and helping Adam make crafts all to ‘keep up.’
You make a good point.
I feel this pain, although mine situation has a little twist: We got a letter from nursery school (10 kids in her class) that said while they don’t encourage the exchange of valentine’s cards, if children what to send them they should do make enough cards for everyone.
So my dilemma then is do we or don’t we? It would be so much easier if they said NO, these kids are too young to understand all this tripe and let it go at that.
sounds of Skippy vomiting repeatedly
OK, so very obviously we don’t have kids (there are court orders etc. preventing it… sheesh, I mean, you throw one set of twins down a mine shaft and they get all pissy about it…) and so don’t usually comment on the crunchy parenting (what would we say? “martinis help. take two and retire”?) but this is just too vexing! I’d complain to the pre-school. I’d even not drink that morning to look extra impressive.
Seriously, this is weird and surely freakishly early for kids to be celebrating ’40 ways with romantic love’
Skippy you nailed it.
And yeah…I guess I shouldn’t show up in my pj’s and rubber boots to drop him off that morning so they will actually take me seriously.
They always give me strange looks.
I agree, CrunchyMama. Although, I only have to write names on some store bought cards for 17 kids. I did attach some suckers to the envelopes.
At my daughter’s school it is the parents that make a big fuss. It seems they go further and further off the deep end each year. The kids dont care, as long as they get to eat candy in the middle of the afternoon.
Good Luck.
About the only thing I will buy this V-day will be a box of Godiva. It is a treat just for me. teehee!!
40 cards? that is nuts crunchy! we have 16 in preschool, 19 in grade 1 and my 11yr old and 9yr old both said no way this year lol. (figured the 11yr old wouldn’t, the 9yr old surprised me!)
but i do agree with you. i remember getting cards as a kid and not one from every classmate. none of this *you must send this many cards* nuts i tell you
i am going to assume the idea behind this is to make sure NO ONE feels left out, thus forcing everyone to send a card to everyone… but ugh. i remember getting a few cards from real crushes or friends, but this seems over the top. i have a niece who is 7, i’m sure my brother is facing the same problems. for her birthday in October she invited every girl in her class to Chuck E Cheese! 16 girls! i told him he was crazy, but he spoils her.
i personally don’t celebrate any commercial holidays, i refuse to even do Christmas. my family and friends accept my lack of consumer support to such things and understand that my love doesn’t just magically appear on “special” days. i also forewarned my current boyfriend that i don’t dig getting dead flowers. nothing to me is so frivolous as giving someone cut flowers. give me a potted plant sure, something that will live – but not cut flowers!
That’s getting out of hand. Who are WE doing it for anyway? It’s usually the parents who actually do the work – I guess for the other parents to see how wonderful we are 🙂
Hi again!
I sooo hear you. Both my kids got a list as well. AND apparantly they need to bring in valentine’s day cookies to the school. So now I have to bake?? I barely got home from work. And you’re right, the kids wouldn’t care about it, if it weren’t for the schools pushing so hard. Now, you gotta keep up with the Jones’s so to speak so your kid isn’t the only one NOT doing it. Sigh.
speaking of baking, get to my son’s grade 1 class, and there were 4 trays of cupcakes and 6 cookie sheets of cookies AND 90% of the valentines had candies attached to them! they didn’t have that much sugar on Halloween in the classroom!
When I was driving over to the preschool, I could see parents and kids heading to the elementary school LOADED with cakes and so on….
I really think things have gotten stupid.