Down With The Treat Bag!

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.)