Shuga, Ah Shuga Shuga

So, I found this in my email yesterday, (this is only part of the email). And I must say it has turned into a fire storm.

Dear parents,



I'm writing this from one parent to another. And maybe as a plea of sorts. Now that our children are in 4th grade, they now have 30 classmates. Which mean 30 birthdays. Here is a list of the treats your kids have consumed in the last 6 days...



8/22...Cupcake

8/23...Sugar Cookie with icing

8/24...Popsicle

8/25...Glazed Doughnut

8/26...supersized popsicle

8/29...rootbeer float



I'm not sure that all parents are aware of what has been consumed and which birthdays have fallen so close together. I'm assuming most kids don't come home and readily give up this information. Mine don't. I just happen to be picking them this year and have seen the evidence.



What was my response?

Thank you for your thoughts Juli (Julie is not the one that started this crazy emailing she just had something good to say), I love what you said! Very diplomatic and well said. I feel that these kids aren't going to want treats much longer for birthdays because it won't be "cool". I can say my kids tell me when they have a treat and it's just that.....a treat. It's like a right of passage. I remember when I was a kid and looking forward to birthday treats that I could share or my friends could share. Our kids are still getting excited about it, not embarrassed and we need to celebrate that.

I admit I was one of the parents to bring something in for my child. I loved to see the excitement on his face knowing he was going to share a Popsicle with his class. It gave me joy to see him so happy sharing something so simple. It also put a smile on my face to see all the kids enjoying a nice cold treat on a hot summer day.

While I appreciate the concerns of other parents I also feel it is up to the parent and child to determine what they will bring in. As Juli said it would be a sad day if the school decided that we had to have some sort of protocol for sharing treats on special days. It is our job, as parents, to teach our kids to make good decisions and know when to say no. I hate to admit this too, but it is my job to be the "bad guy". Playing the "bad guy" is teaching our kids boundaries, giving them structure, teaching them morals and values. Nobody said parenting was easy.

The parent who wrote this email wrote several more and has taken ALL the response emails and pasted them to a new email to try and start a school wide ban on birthday treats. Is it hard to teach our kids to say NO? I realize given the choice to say yes to a treat or no is tough, but these kids are in 4th grade and they know how to make smart choices.

Does there have to be rules and regulations for everything? Don't we have enough of those? Why can't kids be kids and enjoy sharing something special?