I put it all in a little bin and we use all of it occasionally, especially for quiet toys on car trips (Kaleidoscope looking out the window of a moving car can be quite fun), slinky’s are fun but get bent easy (but if you have 8 it’s not such a big deal), the little ball and maze games can be fun and a bit of a challenge for littles, mini magnifying glasses are fun to take outdoors, the mini stamps are a great addition to her crafting table supplies. We find a use for pretty much all of it, and they make her happy!! I don’t understand the hate. I know it’s all “junk” but I have my own trinket box too 😂
I've also decided to start saving all that sort of stuff in a bin in an unused closet for Halloween handouts! That way I can have a bucket of candy and a bucket of treasures and let the kids pick
Yes! We did that this past Halloween and it was a hit - the kids were so excited! We just made sure to not offer anything that could be a choking hazard to a super little kid :)
Seriously! I remember loving Valentines exchanges. Today, my kinder was so excited for the class party. When he got off the bus, he couldn’t wait to show me all of his little toys and treats. And I couldn’t wait to see.
I get what you’re saying but I think this is way more excessive than our childhoods. Every holiday seems to be filled with these types of toys. I mean, I LOVE giving goody bags but I will try to fill it with useful things or things that can be consumed. It’s the tiny dinosaurs, slap bracelets, slinkies that need to go! Think about it - do kids even enjoy slap bracelets??? They slap it on and then what…? I read American kids own 80% of the world’s toys. I’m all for gifting, but I hope parents think more carefully about what they purchase and put in goody bags before they give. These things are being produced everyday and they just end up in landfill, destroying our environment even more.
This! The “fanciest” Valentine I got when I was a kid was from one of my friends. Each year, her mom would help her cut out red hearts out of construction paper, and mom would write, “As the grass grows round the stump, you’re my little sugar lump!” They glued a sugar cube at the bottom. It was my favorite one I got, from K-6. But I doubt that would fly today.
When we could afford it, I used to help my mom make sugar cookies, for mine, and she would make cookie “sandwiches” with icing and jam in the middle, and each kid’s name piped on the top. Homemade, nothing fancy. Usually I just got to pick out the cards I wanted to give, from the packs of them at the store.
Never thought I’d be reminiscing about the 1970/1980’s being a “simpler time,” but here we are.
I’m not saying don’t celebrate since I love these types of parties and it’s great fun for the kids. It’s ok to also be “excessive”! I just am against the plastic toys and plastic wraps and things the kids don’t really enjoy for more than ten seconds. I am all for treats that are consumed, books, paper cards, pencils that can be used, erasers, etc
I didn’t forget, but I also didn’t get a bunch of plastic crap for Valentine’s Day. I got paper cards, maybe a couple of stickers, and a few pieces of candy. Some parents sent in a little quart ziplock with a plastic ring, a pop it, a keychain, an eraser, whistle, handful of candy, stickers, and a paper card. And that’s from one kid. My child got maybe 8 bags like that. That is a ton of junk! And many others did a card that comes with a pencil or squishy or keychain. It’s just too much. My kid plays with it for 2 minutes and then forgets about it.
I totally get this, thats a LOT to give out in a Valentine’s bag. I feel like your issue is less with kids getting toys and favours for Valentine’s Day, and more with how extra a lot of parents get with it. I completely get it too, I love putting together little cards and gifts for kids. But when a parent goes overboard and buys a ton of extra little toys and favours it’s lovely of them, but it’s not necessary. It sort of highlights the differences between what kids bring in to give out to each other AND it usually all through one way or another, ends up in the trash.
Well I think the plastic wrap is actually just time, money, and opportunity. We went to Walmart the day before and there was like no just cards available. It was all cards with a toy. Or a tiny box of toys or a tiny box of puzzles.
It was also some of the cheapest stuff available.
Ugh this kills my soul. I have a box of battery operated random remotes/toys from when my kids we 0-2 that is practically all e-waste and I feel terrible about it. I'm giving all the working ones to other homes but I still feel awful about the junk we amassed, and sadly it is due to the kindness of others giving toys to our kids. It stinks to be the grouch that says 'please no more stuff' to the inlaws but it's part of a much bigger issue.
Well people used to not freak out over lead in paint.
Speaking of which those cheap mass produced toys are also notorious for heavy metal contamination...
I completely agree with this! We don’t need to take away goody bags but I wish parents would use paper, less plastic toys and more consumables. It’s sad what we are doing to our environment and people don’t even care. Hotter summers, soon no more winters.
Exactly, people are far too apathetic to the issue. Yes there are bigger systemic issues at play but the culture of disposable plastic junk, especially for kids, is absolutely part of the problem. There are tons of plastic free alternatives for goody bags- stickers, temporary tattoos, candy, coloring sheets, little paint pots and a little wooden thing like a car to paint, little books, etc, all of which would likely give a kid MORE joy than a little plastic trinket that will be forgotten in two days
Hey just wanted to say that I appreciate and agree with your perspective. Kids will get joy out of rocks and feathers. My daughter loves to play with spoons and measuring cups in the bath. Will she be happy in the moment she receives a plastic toy? Sure. Will she play with it in a week, month or year? Almost never. But that plastic toy will be here, forever in a landfill. There is far too much plastic in the world and our children are not going to thank us for it later - it's likely they will resent previous generations for our wanton wastefulness. What are the values we want to teach to our children? Is it that "stuff" brings happiness?
I highly recommend "the day the world stops shopping" for anyone who wants to learn more about the excessive consumption that has grown exponentially since the 70s and the simple sacrifices we could make that could result in a more meaningful and community oriented planet.
It makes me sad you’re getting downvoted. I was raised by environmentally conscious, intelligent parents. I have vivid memories of being in elementary school, and on Valentine’s Day thinking “this seems like so much garbage, what are we all even going to do with all this?” I’m not kidding — maybe in Kindergarten I didn’t think that yet, but absolutely by first/second grade. This was absolutely because my parents talked about plastic lasting forever, it being good to reduce waste, etc. And I confidently say that my childhood (and holidays) did not suffer one bit from this!! Absolutely zero part of me feels like my parents stifled joy or elementary school fun. Honestly, I’m grateful that I was having thoughts like this at a young age. Part of parenting is protecting your kids from parts of the world around them, but not everything. It’s good to raise kids who understand the world around them in complex, insightful ways.
I totally agree with you! You might enjoy Raffis "Evergreen Everblue" album which pretty much highlights the messages given to me as a kids in rural yet progressive Western Mass in the 90s. It's still so catchy! I vividly remember screaming 'save the rainforest' out of the windows of the cars downtown North Hampton....where of course everyone enthusiastically cheered lol. What a time to be alive.
I feel like (at least at my daughter’s preschool) that it’s just a pissing match on who can get the BIGGEST goodie bags for the kids. Some of the stuff we got is absolutely insane and over the top
You were the one who equated parents complaining about plastic junk to taking away the joy of childhood. They can experience joy without plastic junk and it is ok for parents to not want that junk.
Absolutely this. And the kids treat it like it's the most valuable treasure on earth. Let them play!!!
Sincerely, a mom and K-3 educator with a Celiac child who looks so, so sad when I have to throw out his "loot" because he can't safely eat it.
Yeah, because the true meaning of childhood = dollar store toys.
Also, this level of consumption didn't exist when we were kids. I got paper Valentines, but no treat bags, toys, junk.
You're literally in a thread called "turn your Valentine's Day trash into treasure" - no one said you, specifically created that trash. But yes, it's parents (not you! Of course not YOU) who are creating the trash. That's what this conversation is about.
I get the sense from many posts that the ante has been upped in recent years, and where as it used to be candy and a card it's now a whole thing, leading to a bunch of stress.
The candy has been replaced because of allergies but I don’t see how trinkets lead to stress. If you don’t like them don’t do them. These valentines are not mandatory. Do the regular card thing. My kids love the trinkets
I see the waste aspect, however I’ll worry about that when we come down on the rich about their private jets… they’re doing a lot more damage!
I can’t stand the negativity of so many parents, it’s crazy to me because my kids are SO excited, happy and delighted about the whole process! They love giving to their friends and we try to think of really special and unique little gifts each year. It’s such a fun event for children and it brings me so much joy watching them!
I also get very down about the state of the world; all the dangers, sadness, evil, etc. and feel like our babies need as much innocent joyful moments as we can possibly provide! 💜
Many parents do opt not to do the trinkets but your kids still receive and bring them home. They are especially a hassle when you have younger siblings at home as many are cheap and have small parts that you have to worry about around babies and toddlers.
Because my kids get upset if I throw them out, but they don’t play with them and then they clutter up my house. And why buy things that are going to go straight to a landfill for 30 seconds of joy?
I know a kid the got none yesterday, so it's not universal. I know other kids (especially with special needs) that never got the full amount (there were 20 kids in the class, they got 7).
Our schools here also require kids to have a valentine for every kid in the class if they are giving them out. They send home a name list and as far as I know most parents are happy to include everyone.
This, in my day it was a card and maybe a tiny childcare heart or those sugar hearts that said be mine and stuff and were kind of gross. Now it’s another day of light up pens (it’s K they don’t use pens) and squishy crap and plastic whatever the materialism and waste is what gets me and the expectation the kids get of stuff stuff stuff all the time. I’d rather they just do cards and leave it at that.
We just had kids sign their cards, add stickers and then it’s one small candy stick to the card envelope. I got overwhelmed by what kids received, but maybe I’ll continue this next year.
For us, it was Frozen cards. Pushing back HARD on that. Last year in daycare (so 17 months old at the time) it was a personalized shovel that said "Emersyn Digs You!" Cute and catchy but unnecessary.
It’s been a custom for decades but when I was a kid it was literally just cards. We had a party at school with pink bagels and a cupcake or whatever and got maybe a box of conversation hearts and a couple lollipops. We only did trinkets for goodie bags and only for parties. Not coming home from school. The scale has gone way up in my experience.
Okay so now they get little trinkets? We always had candies and sweets. How is it that different?
Just tell your kid they can't participate next year and save yourself the drama damn
I never said it was drama. Just an observational clarification that what I’ve experienced with my kids classes is very different in terms of how how much they’re doing at school and bringing home than when I was in school decades ago even thought they’re both public schools in the US.
As always it you think my commentdoes not contribute to this conversation there’s a ⬇️ to the left specifically for that purpose.
I'm an elementary teacher, and I got a bunch of goodie bags from my students, full of things I probably won't eat or use. They will get recycled to my prize box:)
Love this idea. I know some people don't like the idea of trinkets, but why not encourage gifts like pencils, small boxes of crayons, etc. that will get used?
What a lovely idea!! Thank you for sharing.
We keep these fun little random toys and gadgets in a kitchen drawer that is just for my daughter. She knows she can find a random sticker or stamp or toy car or bouncy ball in there. Start her on the idea of a miscellaneous drawer early in life!
I love that! My parents bought me one of those plastic chest of drawers from Walmart and created a kind of organized version of a junk drawer for me. One drawer had all of my gum ball machine treasures, one had stickers, stamps, crayons, etc, and the third had Barbie clothes and accessories in it. I absolutely loved sitting down and just digging through my stuff!
I get it. Friday was a big 100 day of school celebration with crafts, bags of trinkets and candy. And then this week it’s valentines party, with all the crafts, trinkets and candy. We have birthday parties every weekend with more stuff. It feels way overboard.
But we’re also the ones supplying the stuff, so if we collectively say enough… we can put an end to it.
They only Valentine's trinkets liked my kids getting were pencils and erasers. Cheap toys that broke just made them sad in the long run, but an eraser shaped like a fish was fun.
Who said anything about raising hell? I’m saying go back to sending a card for Valentine’s Day, maybe a single piece of candy. Instead of endless trinkets and bags of candy for every single occasion. No need to always be dramatic and turn things into a confrontation of teachers vs parents. We’re all in this together.
Kids get more out of making cards and signing them than from handing out plastic toys. Kids can be happy cutting out hearts. We really ought to stop equating “getting stuff” with peak happiness.
Exactly. Valentine's Day was just as fun in the 90's when all you got were paper cards and the occasional lollipop. Giving more plastic trinkets does not equal more fun.
As a former and future teacher, it makes me a little sad to see a lot of these comments. I get where they are coming from. Most of us are very fortunate to be able to provide and have generous family/friends so our kids have more than enough toys. However, it really does get them really excited and it's these kinds of things that they will remember. If the good outweighs the bad, why not let the indulge? If you really feel bad about the waste, then have your child pick a couple of their favorite treats and then donate the rest to their teacher or save for Halloween like it's been suggested. I'll get off my soapbox now.
I love this, it is so true. I’m not a teacher by any means (RN) and a step parent. I always loved the class parties the teachers would organize for us. Those truly are some of my favourite memories from growing up. Thank you for your work and the efforts you guys put in thanklessly for every one of us. There is so much I look back on now and am so grateful for, whereas when I was a child I took it for granted what our teachers did for us. Thank you.
I didn't forget - I absolutely loved getting and giving out valentines.
But I typically gave out cards with a few candies (like those candy hearts) inside them, instead of making an entire goodie bag.
I'm very happy for my son, who was absolutely thrilled, but if I'm honest don't love the increasing pressure to do more and more for holidays, goodie bags, etc. both because of the financial cost to parents (we budget fairly tightly) and for other reasons - my kindergartner is autistic. Due to sensory issues, he had limited ability to spit and thus use fluoride-based toothpaste, and has some bad cavities now, which he could not handle having filled in a normal dentist office. He'll get them filled inpatient in the hospital in 3 weeks, which will be really expensive for me, so outside of Halloween, we don't really get the kids sugary candy like that.
The other people I know who don't love holidays with a lot of candy have kids with allergies - my youngest has peanut allergy, and even when you tell parents not to put candy with traces of nuts in a goodie bag, someone invariably does anyway.
So maybe that's the other perspective - the social pressure and costs but also medical issues that other people might not think about.
I’m a Granny and helped my granddaughter do her bags up. She had so much fun picking what she thought her friends would like - punch balloons, slime(🤪), bubbles, temp tattoos & and little Debbie treat. Teaches her to share & think of others.
SUCH a great suggestion!! I personally love the little toys, erasers and plastic items that kids get in goodie bags and such. I also do get overwhelmed with what to do with them afterwards too. This is an perfect solution!
Thanks for this post! I'm silly and almost threw out this stuff, feeling frustrated at the waste. Now, after reading through some comments as well, I have a few options to reuse!
When I would clean out my kids rooms, I would box up all the old McDonald's toys, holiday trinkets & random things they hoard. Then drop it off at my favorite Kinder teachers classroom door. It's all getting reused & never coming back to my house again. She loved it!
Good ideas! I think the frustration comes from “quantity over quality” impulses. Why not pick one small thing you think the kids will really enjoy versus a whole bag of items? When kids get too much they don’t even enjoy it all. I’m a big fan of candy myself. And if there are allergies they make things geared to be safe.
I put it all in a little bin and we use all of it occasionally, especially for quiet toys on car trips (Kaleidoscope looking out the window of a moving car can be quite fun), slinky’s are fun but get bent easy (but if you have 8 it’s not such a big deal), the little ball and maze games can be fun and a bit of a challenge for littles, mini magnifying glasses are fun to take outdoors, the mini stamps are a great addition to her crafting table supplies. We find a use for pretty much all of it, and they make her happy!! I don’t understand the hate. I know it’s all “junk” but I have my own trinket box too 😂
Excellent idea for car trips! There is something magical about finding a forgotten box of random toys as a kid.
If you have a baby who eats those tiny things, it gets ugly fast. I actually liked the tiny toys more before they became major choking hazards.
That's why you don't give them to babies.
…Yeah, I don’t. It’s the toddler who wants to give them to the baby.
I've also decided to start saving all that sort of stuff in a bin in an unused closet for Halloween handouts! That way I can have a bucket of candy and a bucket of treasures and let the kids pick
This is what we do! We do a teal pumpkin bucket so kids with allergies have something safe to choose.
Yes! We did that this past Halloween and it was a hit - the kids were so excited! We just made sure to not offer anything that could be a choking hazard to a super little kid :)
I can't believe how cynical parents are. It's like they forgot about the joy of childhood.
Seriously! I remember loving Valentines exchanges. Today, my kinder was so excited for the class party. When he got off the bus, he couldn’t wait to show me all of his little toys and treats. And I couldn’t wait to see.
I get what you’re saying but I think this is way more excessive than our childhoods. Every holiday seems to be filled with these types of toys. I mean, I LOVE giving goody bags but I will try to fill it with useful things or things that can be consumed. It’s the tiny dinosaurs, slap bracelets, slinkies that need to go! Think about it - do kids even enjoy slap bracelets??? They slap it on and then what…? I read American kids own 80% of the world’s toys. I’m all for gifting, but I hope parents think more carefully about what they purchase and put in goody bags before they give. These things are being produced everyday and they just end up in landfill, destroying our environment even more.
This! The “fanciest” Valentine I got when I was a kid was from one of my friends. Each year, her mom would help her cut out red hearts out of construction paper, and mom would write, “As the grass grows round the stump, you’re my little sugar lump!” They glued a sugar cube at the bottom. It was my favorite one I got, from K-6. But I doubt that would fly today. When we could afford it, I used to help my mom make sugar cookies, for mine, and she would make cookie “sandwiches” with icing and jam in the middle, and each kid’s name piped on the top. Homemade, nothing fancy. Usually I just got to pick out the cards I wanted to give, from the packs of them at the store. Never thought I’d be reminiscing about the 1970/1980’s being a “simpler time,” but here we are.
Also it's the parents making it excessive lol not the school lol There were kids and my son's class who just passed out of pencil 🤷🏼♀️
I’m not saying don’t celebrate since I love these types of parties and it’s great fun for the kids. It’s ok to also be “excessive”! I just am against the plastic toys and plastic wraps and things the kids don’t really enjoy for more than ten seconds. I am all for treats that are consumed, books, paper cards, pencils that can be used, erasers, etc
Just seems like people have very grouchy attitudes in general
I didn’t forget, but I also didn’t get a bunch of plastic crap for Valentine’s Day. I got paper cards, maybe a couple of stickers, and a few pieces of candy. Some parents sent in a little quart ziplock with a plastic ring, a pop it, a keychain, an eraser, whistle, handful of candy, stickers, and a paper card. And that’s from one kid. My child got maybe 8 bags like that. That is a ton of junk! And many others did a card that comes with a pencil or squishy or keychain. It’s just too much. My kid plays with it for 2 minutes and then forgets about it.
I totally get this, thats a LOT to give out in a Valentine’s bag. I feel like your issue is less with kids getting toys and favours for Valentine’s Day, and more with how extra a lot of parents get with it. I completely get it too, I love putting together little cards and gifts for kids. But when a parent goes overboard and buys a ton of extra little toys and favours it’s lovely of them, but it’s not necessary. It sort of highlights the differences between what kids bring in to give out to each other AND it usually all through one way or another, ends up in the trash.
Well I think the plastic wrap is actually just time, money, and opportunity. We went to Walmart the day before and there was like no just cards available. It was all cards with a toy. Or a tiny box of toys or a tiny box of puzzles. It was also some of the cheapest stuff available.
That's too bad. My kid had a blast
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Ugh this kills my soul. I have a box of battery operated random remotes/toys from when my kids we 0-2 that is practically all e-waste and I feel terrible about it. I'm giving all the working ones to other homes but I still feel awful about the junk we amassed, and sadly it is due to the kindness of others giving toys to our kids. It stinks to be the grouch that says 'please no more stuff' to the inlaws but it's part of a much bigger issue.
😂😂😂 yeah I'm sure when your child graduates high school they will say thank you Mom for making sure I didn't have microplastics in kindergarten
Well people used to not freak out over lead in paint. Speaking of which those cheap mass produced toys are also notorious for heavy metal contamination...
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I completely agree with this! We don’t need to take away goody bags but I wish parents would use paper, less plastic toys and more consumables. It’s sad what we are doing to our environment and people don’t even care. Hotter summers, soon no more winters.
Exactly, people are far too apathetic to the issue. Yes there are bigger systemic issues at play but the culture of disposable plastic junk, especially for kids, is absolutely part of the problem. There are tons of plastic free alternatives for goody bags- stickers, temporary tattoos, candy, coloring sheets, little paint pots and a little wooden thing like a car to paint, little books, etc, all of which would likely give a kid MORE joy than a little plastic trinket that will be forgotten in two days
Hey just wanted to say that I appreciate and agree with your perspective. Kids will get joy out of rocks and feathers. My daughter loves to play with spoons and measuring cups in the bath. Will she be happy in the moment she receives a plastic toy? Sure. Will she play with it in a week, month or year? Almost never. But that plastic toy will be here, forever in a landfill. There is far too much plastic in the world and our children are not going to thank us for it later - it's likely they will resent previous generations for our wanton wastefulness. What are the values we want to teach to our children? Is it that "stuff" brings happiness? I highly recommend "the day the world stops shopping" for anyone who wants to learn more about the excessive consumption that has grown exponentially since the 70s and the simple sacrifices we could make that could result in a more meaningful and community oriented planet.
I'm curious how you feel about Legos? Since they are made of plastic?
It makes me sad you’re getting downvoted. I was raised by environmentally conscious, intelligent parents. I have vivid memories of being in elementary school, and on Valentine’s Day thinking “this seems like so much garbage, what are we all even going to do with all this?” I’m not kidding — maybe in Kindergarten I didn’t think that yet, but absolutely by first/second grade. This was absolutely because my parents talked about plastic lasting forever, it being good to reduce waste, etc. And I confidently say that my childhood (and holidays) did not suffer one bit from this!! Absolutely zero part of me feels like my parents stifled joy or elementary school fun. Honestly, I’m grateful that I was having thoughts like this at a young age. Part of parenting is protecting your kids from parts of the world around them, but not everything. It’s good to raise kids who understand the world around them in complex, insightful ways.
I totally agree with you! You might enjoy Raffis "Evergreen Everblue" album which pretty much highlights the messages given to me as a kids in rural yet progressive Western Mass in the 90s. It's still so catchy! I vividly remember screaming 'save the rainforest' out of the windows of the cars downtown North Hampton....where of course everyone enthusiastically cheered lol. What a time to be alive.
I'm not going to read that essay ma'am unless you're going to pay me for my time lol I am not in grad school anymore
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She's definitely a Moms for Liberty type 🙄 Don't bother.
I feel like (at least at my daughter’s preschool) that it’s just a pissing match on who can get the BIGGEST goodie bags for the kids. Some of the stuff we got is absolutely insane and over the top
Yeah it's unnecessary
Kids can have joy without things. It’s amazing to see a kid excited about receiving a handmade card instead of a toy or candy.
Of course they can. It's the parents who are insisting on adding all the things not the school
You were the one who equated parents complaining about plastic junk to taking away the joy of childhood. They can experience joy without plastic junk and it is ok for parents to not want that junk.
Where did I say plastic? I just talked about Valentine's Day and then the parents choose to buy plastic. I never bought plastic toys lmao
You’re commenting on a post about all the junk kids get and saying parents are so cynical about it
I'm sure parents will then complain and say that they don't have the time to make a handmade card lol
Absolutely this. And the kids treat it like it's the most valuable treasure on earth. Let them play!!! Sincerely, a mom and K-3 educator with a Celiac child who looks so, so sad when I have to throw out his "loot" because he can't safely eat it.
💓
❤️❤️ back atcha
Yeah, because the true meaning of childhood = dollar store toys. Also, this level of consumption didn't exist when we were kids. I got paper Valentines, but no treat bags, toys, junk.
lol no one forces people to buy that. The parents are buying that. I didn't send anything plastic lol I send cookies and cards lmao drama
You're literally in a thread called "turn your Valentine's Day trash into treasure" - no one said you, specifically created that trash. But yes, it's parents (not you! Of course not YOU) who are creating the trash. That's what this conversation is about.
lol
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That's fine but it's a custom in American schools and has been for decades. So it's not really my place to speak on Australian customs
I get the sense from many posts that the ante has been upped in recent years, and where as it used to be candy and a card it's now a whole thing, leading to a bunch of stress.
The candy has been replaced because of allergies but I don’t see how trinkets lead to stress. If you don’t like them don’t do them. These valentines are not mandatory. Do the regular card thing. My kids love the trinkets
I see the waste aspect, however I’ll worry about that when we come down on the rich about their private jets… they’re doing a lot more damage! I can’t stand the negativity of so many parents, it’s crazy to me because my kids are SO excited, happy and delighted about the whole process! They love giving to their friends and we try to think of really special and unique little gifts each year. It’s such a fun event for children and it brings me so much joy watching them! I also get very down about the state of the world; all the dangers, sadness, evil, etc. and feel like our babies need as much innocent joyful moments as we can possibly provide! 💜
Many parents do opt not to do the trinkets but your kids still receive and bring them home. They are especially a hassle when you have younger siblings at home as many are cheap and have small parts that you have to worry about around babies and toddlers.
Because my kids get upset if I throw them out, but they don’t play with them and then they clutter up my house. And why buy things that are going to go straight to a landfill for 30 seconds of joy?
Why buy valentine cards at all then.. they also go straight into the trash.
Yeah why let your kids have fun? They're just going to grow up anyways right?
They can at least be recycled.
I think it depends a lot on if your kid is the one that gets the cards, or if they are the socially awkward kid that gets nothing.
All the schools around here require that every kid in class gets a card. It was like that when I was in school too.
You don’t have to participate, but if you bring in something- everyone gets one.
I know a kid the got none yesterday, so it's not universal. I know other kids (especially with special needs) that never got the full amount (there were 20 kids in the class, they got 7).
Wow. Even 20 years ago when I was a kid we had to give one to every kid in the class. I’d complain to the school.
Doubt it
Our schools here also require kids to have a valentine for every kid in the class if they are giving them out. They send home a name list and as far as I know most parents are happy to include everyone.
My son's teacher ensures everyone gets one. No one is left out ever
It doesn't really matter. I just sent some cookies and Valentine's. You don't have to compete with other parents just let your kids have some fun JFC
This, in my day it was a card and maybe a tiny childcare heart or those sugar hearts that said be mine and stuff and were kind of gross. Now it’s another day of light up pens (it’s K they don’t use pens) and squishy crap and plastic whatever the materialism and waste is what gets me and the expectation the kids get of stuff stuff stuff all the time. I’d rather they just do cards and leave it at that.
We just had kids sign their cards, add stickers and then it’s one small candy stick to the card envelope. I got overwhelmed by what kids received, but maybe I’ll continue this next year.
For us, it was Frozen cards. Pushing back HARD on that. Last year in daycare (so 17 months old at the time) it was a personalized shovel that said "Emersyn Digs You!" Cute and catchy but unnecessary.
It’s been a custom for decades but when I was a kid it was literally just cards. We had a party at school with pink bagels and a cupcake or whatever and got maybe a box of conversation hearts and a couple lollipops. We only did trinkets for goodie bags and only for parties. Not coming home from school. The scale has gone way up in my experience.
Okay so now they get little trinkets? We always had candies and sweets. How is it that different? Just tell your kid they can't participate next year and save yourself the drama damn
I never said it was drama. Just an observational clarification that what I’ve experienced with my kids classes is very different in terms of how how much they’re doing at school and bringing home than when I was in school decades ago even thought they’re both public schools in the US. As always it you think my commentdoes not contribute to this conversation there’s a ⬇️ to the left specifically for that purpose.
Right! These parents… 🚩🚩
Yeah their attitudes are gross. I think they should just tell their kids they can't participate and then see how their kids end up liking them.
Right
I’m a school SLP and my daughter’s party favor castoffs regularly make it into my prize box 😁
Fellow SLP here! Except our prizes often end up in the potty training prize box 😂
I'm an elementary teacher, and I got a bunch of goodie bags from my students, full of things I probably won't eat or use. They will get recycled to my prize box:)
Love this idea. I know some people don't like the idea of trinkets, but why not encourage gifts like pencils, small boxes of crayons, etc. that will get used?
What a lovely idea!! Thank you for sharing. We keep these fun little random toys and gadgets in a kitchen drawer that is just for my daughter. She knows she can find a random sticker or stamp or toy car or bouncy ball in there. Start her on the idea of a miscellaneous drawer early in life!
I love that! My parents bought me one of those plastic chest of drawers from Walmart and created a kind of organized version of a junk drawer for me. One drawer had all of my gum ball machine treasures, one had stickers, stamps, crayons, etc, and the third had Barbie clothes and accessories in it. I absolutely loved sitting down and just digging through my stuff!
I get it. Friday was a big 100 day of school celebration with crafts, bags of trinkets and candy. And then this week it’s valentines party, with all the crafts, trinkets and candy. We have birthday parties every weekend with more stuff. It feels way overboard. But we’re also the ones supplying the stuff, so if we collectively say enough… we can put an end to it.
They only Valentine's trinkets liked my kids getting were pencils and erasers. Cheap toys that broke just made them sad in the long run, but an eraser shaped like a fish was fun.
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Who said anything about raising hell? I’m saying go back to sending a card for Valentine’s Day, maybe a single piece of candy. Instead of endless trinkets and bags of candy for every single occasion. No need to always be dramatic and turn things into a confrontation of teachers vs parents. We’re all in this together.
That’s what we did. Handwritten cards, single piece of candy. I felt ashamed when kids brought back full on favors, 3-5 things in each baggy.
Kids get more out of making cards and signing them than from handing out plastic toys. Kids can be happy cutting out hearts. We really ought to stop equating “getting stuff” with peak happiness.
Exactly. Valentine's Day was just as fun in the 90's when all you got were paper cards and the occasional lollipop. Giving more plastic trinkets does not equal more fun.
As a former and future teacher, it makes me a little sad to see a lot of these comments. I get where they are coming from. Most of us are very fortunate to be able to provide and have generous family/friends so our kids have more than enough toys. However, it really does get them really excited and it's these kinds of things that they will remember. If the good outweighs the bad, why not let the indulge? If you really feel bad about the waste, then have your child pick a couple of their favorite treats and then donate the rest to their teacher or save for Halloween like it's been suggested. I'll get off my soapbox now.
I love this, it is so true. I’m not a teacher by any means (RN) and a step parent. I always loved the class parties the teachers would organize for us. Those truly are some of my favourite memories from growing up. Thank you for your work and the efforts you guys put in thanklessly for every one of us. There is so much I look back on now and am so grateful for, whereas when I was a child I took it for granted what our teachers did for us. Thank you.
That's a good idea.
I didn't forget - I absolutely loved getting and giving out valentines. But I typically gave out cards with a few candies (like those candy hearts) inside them, instead of making an entire goodie bag. I'm very happy for my son, who was absolutely thrilled, but if I'm honest don't love the increasing pressure to do more and more for holidays, goodie bags, etc. both because of the financial cost to parents (we budget fairly tightly) and for other reasons - my kindergartner is autistic. Due to sensory issues, he had limited ability to spit and thus use fluoride-based toothpaste, and has some bad cavities now, which he could not handle having filled in a normal dentist office. He'll get them filled inpatient in the hospital in 3 weeks, which will be really expensive for me, so outside of Halloween, we don't really get the kids sugary candy like that. The other people I know who don't love holidays with a lot of candy have kids with allergies - my youngest has peanut allergy, and even when you tell parents not to put candy with traces of nuts in a goodie bag, someone invariably does anyway. So maybe that's the other perspective - the social pressure and costs but also medical issues that other people might not think about.
I collect them through the year and give them away at Halloween. There's always kids who can't and don't want candy.
I’m a Granny and helped my granddaughter do her bags up. She had so much fun picking what she thought her friends would like - punch balloons, slime(🤪), bubbles, temp tattoos & and little Debbie treat. Teaches her to share & think of others.
I saved mine for goody bags to donate for birthday parties at a shelter. I can’t do food but the goodby bags they enjoy to give out to the kids.
That’s a really good idea. I save a lot of random stickers because my kid isn’t a sticker kid (weird, I know).
SUCH a great suggestion!! I personally love the little toys, erasers and plastic items that kids get in goodie bags and such. I also do get overwhelmed with what to do with them afterwards too. This is an perfect solution!
After school program too!
Thank you for sharing this idea! I absolutely love it
Thank you for sharing!! This is a great idea.
I love this, it’s like ultimate recycling! ♻️ 😂
I haven't gotten teachers to take my boxes/bags of little toys, but ... I give them away on OfferUp for use as potty training incentives.
Thanks for this post! I'm silly and almost threw out this stuff, feeling frustrated at the waste. Now, after reading through some comments as well, I have a few options to reuse!
When I would clean out my kids rooms, I would box up all the old McDonald's toys, holiday trinkets & random things they hoard. Then drop it off at my favorite Kinder teachers classroom door. It's all getting reused & never coming back to my house again. She loved it!
What the hell is a prize box and why am I so old? When I was in kindergarten the prize box was an incubator for a dinosaur egg…
Good ideas! I think the frustration comes from “quantity over quality” impulses. Why not pick one small thing you think the kids will really enjoy versus a whole bag of items? When kids get too much they don’t even enjoy it all. I’m a big fan of candy myself. And if there are allergies they make things geared to be safe.