Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lots of Love

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!  For many people, Valentine's day means cards, fancy food and chocolates, and my house is no exception.  Well, except how we go about the cards, fancy food and chocolate. 

For us, Valentine's day is a family affair.  I see Valentine's day as a day to celebrate love in all its forms.  Love for spouses, love for kids.  Love for our parents, siblings, friends, even co-workers.  Love for our pets.  Love for our neighbors.  It's a day to celebrate something that's good in all of us.  A day to really live up to Christ's calling to love one another.  A chance to celebrate that love. 

So, it starts with cards.  On Sunday, we sat down as  family and made Valentine's for the kids' friends at school.  As we wrote out the valentines, we talked about what we liked about each friend, and how they were special.  When we were done with the class lists, each of my kids made a valentine for the other.  It wasn't something Husband or I told them to do; it was just that our kids understood that giving a valentine meant making someone feel special.  And each wanted to make the other feel that way.  You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that nothing can make a kid feel more special than a Lightning McQueen or Sleeping Beauty valentine with a sucker attached! 

Then today, each kid awoke excited to share in some special Valentine's Day food!  Thanks to the amazing effort of each of my kids' daycare teachers, each kid's classroom is hosting a special Valentine's Day meal with mom or dad.  We got lucky in that Sweet Pea's class is hosting breakfast; KJ's class is hosting lunch.  Each kid was so excited this morning to have lunch or breakfast with Daddy and just share some one-on-one time.  While eating lunch at a three-foot high table, sitting in tiny chairs is a far cry from the candle-light dinners of Husband's Valentine's Day past, I'm pretty sure Husband will cherish these meals today more than any of those others. 

And then, there's chocolate.  As the off-site daycare parent, I didn't have any hope of making the special V-day breakfast or lunch with my little guys.  So I set off to make their day special with some chocolate.  Tuesday nights are a bad night in our house.  We generally go straight from work/school to KJ's hockey, getting home around 7 pm.  Then it's time for a quick dinner, bath and bed.  Not a lot of time for celebration.  But last night, I stayed up and made my kids a "special" dessert.  It's only pudding (and instant at that), but it's enough for my kids to know that they are my valentines too.  It's something a little special I could do to physically show them how special they are to me. 


If you are still looking for some family-friendly ideas on how to make your Valentine's Day a little extra special, check out this link for a bunch of recipes, crafts and other ideas on how to celebrate.  http://familyfun.go.com/valentines-day/valentines-day-recipes/valentine-treats-gallery-838251/?CMP=NLC-NL_FFUN_Recipe_020712_valentine-treats-gallery


Karen

No comments:

Post a Comment