I’m not a fan of the treat bag. Perhaps you could tell by the title of this post.
I rarely send them to school with my kids for their holiday parties because I loathe all the candy and junk. And no, they are not the same thing.
Candy refers to well, the candy and “junk” refers to all the little toys that may come inside the little plastic nuisance.
You know, the ones that end up on almost every surface and in every container in my home? Little stamps, erasers in the shape of everything God created, pencils (with more erasers on the end), mini note pads (what the h.e.l.l. can u ACTUALLY write on those things anyway???), bouncy balls that find their way underneath every sofa cushion and also, stickers. DON’T get me started on the stickers. Oh and heart-shaped “slinkies” and tiny things of bubbles and silly bands (I detest you, silly band inventor person). The list goes on and on AND on…
And then there are the birthday party treat bags, which include much the same stuff. But also? My children have come to expect them after every single party. And then I get super embarrassed when, once the cake/ice cream/party treats/cheetos/dorritos/brownies have been consumed, my kid gets in the face of the hostess and bellows, “Where’s MY TREAT BAG!?!?!” Don’t tell me I’m the only one whose kid has done this. Dear baby Jesus, I certainly hope I’m not.
All this to say that I’m looking for a movement to abolish the treat bag. These little UN-environmentally friendly suckers are the bane of my mothering existence and contain stuff that just causes trouble. (do you have ANY idea how many times my boys have fought over a box of NERDS?)
And I’d probably be okay with them on OCCASION but the stuff lingers and then even when you happen to successfully make the voyage to the OUTSIDE trash can (you know, the big one the little people can’t see into?) with some of the Valentine’s junk, it gets replaced with the Easter junk which in turn gets replaced with SummerBirthdayPartyPalooza junk and…. well, you get the idea.
So, who’s with me?!? I say Down with Treat Bags!!!* I’m curious – what do YOU say?
And as you can see, I’m not a complete spoil sport. They did get to come home with a bunch of “loot” for the recent Mardi Gras Parades…
*(okay, except for maybe the occasional one that comes with the good chocolate) (which I separate out as I make my way to the trash can) (what? I’m against candy that coats my kids teeth with sugar, not the kind that has healthy antioxidants.) (for me.)
I don’t do treat bags. Of course, I also don’t invite too many children to my “kid” parties. I’m with you–it’s just junk. Of course, as a teacher, I gave junk for people’s birthdays, but my students were mostly poor and that might be the only present they got all day.
This post makes me laugh. I also hate all that junk that piles up around the house. But, I also give treat bags at my kids parties. Let me tell you why. I like to be crafty. And there are SO many cute ideas out there for fun, creative treat bags, that I just have to do it. I have to! We just had a party last weekend for our 2 year old and I filled the treat bags with healthy snacks and 1 piece of candy…a Reeses cup. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Yes? No? 🙂
I agree 100%. I hate giving them and I hate it when my kids get them. And my oldest has definitely asked for her “goody” bag. Drives me nuts.
LOL! Yes sometimes it’s too much! I do love birthday party loot bags, though, I love picking out cute paper bags and filling it with nice things, maybe some chocolate, but other stuff, too, like the Mabel’s Labels loot bag combos – I just used those for my son’s birthday this past January and they were a huge hit! And! Practical. 🙂
We have yet to venture too deeply into this territory with my daughter (she’s only two), but I do think that there must be creative and practical ways to create this bags…and one can only hope that if you start doing it yourself, otherwise will follow suit. We’ve only been to one birthday party and there were mini-books (cost about $1 each) on top of the candy and useless stuff inside.
I think part of it is just that mom’s know they are expected so they just throw anything together that they can find in desperation as they try to work up everything else.
I read on one mom’s blog that she put together cookie mix in jars and gave that out (her daughter was 4 or 5 I think) since parents were there with the kids anyway. Encouraged the parents to get in the kitchen with their kids at some point and do some baking.
Haha!!!! I completely agree. I loathe all that crap. I usually just end up tossing it. With a small child (Grace) and a sassy puppy around half of that stuff is actually dangerous in my house. Choking hazard. Ugh. So annoying.
Yes, let’s ban them! 🙂
I hate them, too. For my daughter’s party I did one mini cupcake in a bag for the kids to take home and tied it up with a lollipop. This way the parents could have it if they wanted to. 😉
Im with ya on this one!!! I don’t usually do treat bag nor do I like to receive them! My kids are like yours they expect them at each party and it’s getting ridiculous! If I do decide to do them I always try to make it something practical and not JUNK! C’s 5th birthday was at the Zoo so we did Zoo appropriate bags! The kids loved them and there wasn’t a single piece of candy or useless plastic toy in them!!! It can be done nicely and cheaply IF you take the time to think it out! Otherwise, DONT DO IT!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Amen sister!!!!!! I hate treat bags…loot bags as we call them here.
I hate them so much that I refused to give them out at the boys recent party. Instead I gave an activity/craft book wrapped up like a present. The kids were so disappointed!!!!
But I liked it.
I am so with you on this. Treat bags need to be outlawed.
I don’t do treat bags. Stopped a couple of years ago because of what you said. Nobody *really* wants all that crap. And I’d rather spend my money on something different.
I love that you said Sweet Baby Jesus. I seriously laughed in my cubicle! Even more than getting treat bags is the pressure to have them at your kid’s party! For Nate’s birthday this year I am making all the kids a stuffed monster doll instead. At least they are cute and won’t just get thrown away!
I loathe them as well! And what about the Prize Box at school that the kids get to pull a treat (aka – piece of plastic junk) from on Fridays if they have earned enough points for good behavior during the week? My kids now bring home something from school EVERY Friday as a “reward”. I usually end up throwing it away but I probably should be saving everything to put into my kid’s birthday party treat bags!
All right I’m going to be the lone person that loves the treat bag… that is when it’s not filled with crap. I try to give non-junk stuff and not too much candy. This year for Finn’s party we’re having a superhero lunch with just a few of his buddies and my mother in law is making them each a cape.
I am laughing so hard right now, because, I am reading this post right after I just made my son’s goodie bags! I hate the crap that comes in most bags so I only put “cool” things…like a pack of trail mix and a mini composition notebook (bigger than those annoying tiny ones from oriental trading). I can’t stop giving them but hate when my kids ask for one after every party…can’t believe you didn’t tear into kids birthday parties these days…why can’t a b’day party just be cake???
I agree with you. I hate finding that junk around the house for weeks and throwing it away. For my kid’s birthday parties I make cookie bags to give to each person when they leave. I even give one to each adult. I have made the cookies and other times bought them from the bakery at the grocery store. Everyone loves them and it’s just too easy!
Preach it sister! I can’t decide if I hate the candy or the junk more. I think the junk. The candy gets consumed at least. The junk never dies. I don’t mind pencils though, since we are always needing those for homework and stuff.