Is Simple Better?

I remember the days when celebrating Valentine's Day in school meant  a party, class moms would come in with sweet, home-baked treats, we would exchange cards with friends and make crafts that involved red, pink and white hearts. 

These days, it's a little different.  My kids often come home with goodie bags that are filled with candy, pencils, erasers, pads and all kinds of little knick-knacks similar to the type of things they would get while attending a birthday party.  They don't only come home with one.  They have a number of them from different kids in the class.  Of course, I think the goodie bags are more than generous and they are very appreciated.  But, I also think they can take away from the simple thought and meaning behind the particular holiday.

In this day and age, our kids are so overloaded with material "things."  They have portable electronic devices from which they can do almost everything.  They can play games, talk to each other through video chats, they can text and email.  That's not even including the video games, computers, televisions, music systems and electronic devices they have at home.  They can even read books electronically now.   Their minds are always going, always plugged in and always stimulated. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting down the great things that these advancements in technology have allowed us to achieve.  It's just that sometimes, simple can be more meaningful.  I'm not talking about simplicity without thought behind it.  I'm talking about making a card, instead of buying one.  My daughter loves making cards for people.  She puts a lot of thought into what she writes, she spends time drawing pictures and she actually gets excited about giving it to the person it's intended for.   I love that it teaches her to be thoughtful, considerate and caring about others. 

I'm not saying that I'll make her write out Valentine's for all of the kids in her class, but I have to admit, I wasn't offended when her teacher sent home a list of kids in her class and at the bottom of the page, it read, "Please don't send in candy with cards."