Valentine's Day = More Sweets and Candy

Ah, another holiday, another reason to toss reason aside and eat outrageous amounts of confections. Without getting into meaning/roots, Valentine's Day, Halloween, Easter are some of our "sweets" holidays. I was yet again disappointed to find that my son came home from his school's VDay party having eaten two cupcakes, two lollipops, various other candies and a sugary drink.
Now, I get the desire to have a holiday party, but, with the childhood obesity issues that we are dealing with, why couldn't we make an effort to NOT make it about empty calories.
Our emphasis could/should be on friendship, family, and loved ones. In school, maybe games and activities could be done to strengthen and/or foster friendships. Discussions on favorite activities, favorite memories, books, etc. Talks about how to make friends or what makes a good friend. Just throwing stuff out here. The idea being to make the holiday not about the candy.
As for party food... how about shaping or creating foods for VDay. Cut cheese in the shape of a heart. Shape a platter of vegetables into a heart or Cupid.
It's all of our jobs to step up and start to make changes in our own approaches to these holidays. I hope this has given you a little food for thought. (yes...pun intended ;-))