I always used to get hyped up for V-day. Go shopping for cheesy v-day gifts, Get girlied up, go out for a nice dinner….that was before kids. Now it just seems like all that stuff doesn’t matter. I can’t stand the commercialization of it all. They basically make it a woman’s holiday, implying that if a man doesn’t buy his girl jewelry, flowers or chocolates he’ll be in the dog house. I don’t want that stuff because a holiday made him think he had to, I’d want it because he wanted to give it on his own. He’s lucky I’m not a jewelry and roses kind of girl anyway (although the chocolates wouldn’t be bad) I’m more practical and would rather just have the time together more than anything. We love each other all year round and don’t need a holiday to remind us. I do still think that Valentine’s Day is fun, but shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
My little boy was having his first valentine exchange at school and needed 21 valentines. Of course, we used what we already had around the house and made them. I figured all the other kids would show up with store bought, tear apart, licensed character valentines, but we weren’t planning a trip to the store and it was good for my little boy to take pride in something that he took the time and effort to do himself. Since 21 cards is a lot for a 4 yr old, I helped by cutting the cards and the hearts. He glued on the heart and centered it quite nicely, then used his rubber stamp set and put an animal on the heart, colored it in and signed his name on the inside. I had these mini paper bags in the closet perfect for the cards. He put in the card, added a sucker, stamped the bag and that’s it. He made 4 more for his cousins, grandpa and himself. That’s 25 valentines in all! That’s a lot for a 4 yr old to do himself. I was so proud of him and he was so proud of himself.
When he came home from school he had a bag full of valentines and candy which we dumped out on the carpet, which of course excited his little sister. I asked if he could share a piece of candy with her and he started grabbing candy and stickers, throwing them at her saying “You can have this one, you can have this one and this and this and this…” He gave away at least half of his stash! I was once again so proud of him. That is one thing that I have always loved about my kids is that they are always willing to share like that. You can pick the best, biggest candy bar from their halloween bucket and they would let you have it. If they have fruit snacks and you ask for the last one in the pouch they would give it to you. I have always praised them for their sharing so they have learned how good it is on their part. I love them for their sweetness.
We ended Valentine’s Day with a special dinner. My husband and I, the kids and finger food. I made mini heart shaped pancakes ( a baster works awesome for squirting the pancake batter into shapes) and we dipped them in real maple syrup. That was our fancy V-day date!