Bad Attitudes about Goody Bags

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Some people despise goody bags.

Yup, those little sacks of favors and candy that parents give out at the end of birthday parties.

On a post, “Goody Bags Leave a Bad Taste in Some People’s Mouths” on the New York Times Motherlode blog, commenters wrote:

“I can't stand them. I assembled 8 yesterday for the official party and 24 for the school party, full of loathing the entire time . . . .”

and                            

"I absolutely detest goody bags, and I really detest the idea of teaching little children that little Billy's party is actually, really about them . . . .”

But I can’t help but notice that the people who are most against goody bags display the very attitudes -- competitiveness, self-centeredness -- they decry in others.

Many anti-goody-bag comments, for instance, are written by competitive parents, like this sancti-mommy, from a recent article in BrainChild magazine:

“I dislike party favors as much as I dislike the toys in fast food meals (which were never a common occurrence for my kids, anyway) . . . .”

There was a comment on the New York Times article from a parent boasting that her party featured games that were “math-based.”

Many will write how much they hate goody bags and, in the same comment, boast about their own, like this, from BrainChild:

“I truly hate pointless party favors, but also felt swept away by peer pressure to give out favors . . . My rebellious solutions were always the hit of the neighborhood. I have given CD’s with my child’s picture on the cover and a bunch of their favorite copyright free songs . . . picture frames with my child in them . . . .”

For the record, I like goody bags. Why? Because kids like them.