One of my biggest challenges this past Holiday season was to monitor the amount of sugar that my kids ingested. Cookies, candies and pretty desserts were around every corner…and right her in our kitchen. Lucky for me they are still young and “One piece of candy” will appease them. I kept their intake to roughly 2 pieces a day. I was patting myself on the back for this until I stopped to think….two pieces of candy EVERY DAY for about a month. YUCK.

I guess the biggest problem for me arose when the Holidays were over and my kids were still eating their dinner with great enthusiasm….only to expect their “One Piece of Candy” when they were finished. I tried gently easing them off, saying “Oh, not this time” and “Maybe Later”; it didn’t work. The little addicts began to get restless and irritated (or was that the sugar withdrawl?). So I had to lay down the law last week. I finally said “We won’t be having candy and desserts for a while around here. We ate too much sugar over Christmas”. I think their eyes bulged out of their heads. But I’ve stuck to my guns.

All is well until I realize that SuperBoy is having a birthday this week = cake and treats at preschool. Then turn the corner three weeks later and Valentine’s Day is upon us with all of it’s chocolatey goodness. I see sales and coupons and deals everywhere on chocolate and candy. It makes MY stomach hurt just thinking about it.

I’ve been thinking about it and as I browsed through the ads this weekend I decided that we would be celebrating Valentine’s Day by making cards for our friends. We will make decorations. We will put hearts all over if the kids feel like it. But we won’t be buying any candy. Not this year. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure: I love to bake and I might make them a special Valentine’s Day cookie. Or maybe I’ll just make pancakes…. we’ll see how far willpower takes me.

I got the idea when I was looking at all of the foam heart supplies on sale at Michael’s this week. They have the glittery foam heart stickers, door hangers, pre-packaged activities and even the $1 pre-cut wooden heart frames. Maybe Daddy needs some new picture frames for his desk! There is even a coupon for 40% off of one item at Michael’s in this week’s flyer.

I may put up some coupon deals for chocolates as Valentine’s Day grows closer….but the poor, neglected SuperKids won’t benefit from them this time around.