A Little 'Venting'

Today at Mother's Morning Out Andrew's class had a Valentine Party. They made cute little bags to collect the Valentines in and everything. His teachers had said, just a small card with some candy. I didn't really like the candy idea, so I made some oatmeal cookies instead. I mean seriously, what one- to two-year old needs candy?! And besides the whole sugar factor, most candy out there is too hard, sticky, or chewy for children that age. Here's the haul Andrew got today at the party.

Can you believe it? We didn't even get this much at Halloween! There are several lollipops (which are okay, until he starts to bite them), JuJu Fruits (WAY too sticky and hard), at least 10 chocolate hearts, several bags of M&M's, Peanut Butter Cups, Jolly Ranchers (are you kiding me?) and Marshmallow things. I couldn't believe that some of these parents would give this stuff to other children, that are younger than two! I wouldn't dream of giving Andrew some of this stuff, simply for the choking hazard, nevermind the sugar factor! Try explaining to an 18-month old that, no, you don't bite or chew a Jolly Rancher, you keep it in your mouth until it's gone. Please!

I know I must sound like a Scrooge, but I just couldn't get over the fact that we even had this party in the first place. None of the kids have any idea what Valentine's Day is, why they had a party, and what all those square pieces of paper even mean! There wasn't even a lesson on God's love! It's a church Mother's Morning Out! It just seems like a missed opportunity for a good lesson on love, instead of giving out potentially hazardous candy to small (very small!) children!