Valentine's Day at our house

First just let me say that I go back and forth about Valentine's Day. Some years I wish Dan was mushy and romantic and some years both of us are too busy and put Valentine's into that category of annoying holidays to get through. Annoying simply because there is so much commercialism surrounding it AND what you have to do for the kids for school is crazy.



Our first year married, Dan tried to surprise me by buying See's Candy. I was young, romantic, I idealized things. I wanted to start married life Valentine's Day out right and make SURE Dan understood EXACTLY what I expected for the next 70 years! So I snooped. I know, none of you are surprised. I found the duplicate check in the check book for the See's candy and I was thrilled! Until Dan found out that I had ruined the surprise:( Then he said he was never going to try to surprise me for Valentine's Day again! Did I mention I was young then? Luckily for me, and Dan, I realized that I didn't need something great from Dan to show me how much he loves me. Everyday he gives me that. Well, almost. So the next year, two days before Valentine's Day, he himself can't wait to show me the surprise. It's a ring from the jewelry store he worked at. It's beautiful. Fake, but beautiful. Beautiful because he said he was never going to try to surprise me for Valentine's Day again, but he did. So 15 years later, there have been a few surprises on Valentine's Day but mostly fun cards from the kids and fun dinners in or out for us.



Which brings me to this year. This year I planned in advance. I bought little boxes of heart candy for the kids, caramels for Dan and rang the doorbell and ran - around the back and in the back door. (Side note: one of my most memorable Valentine's as a child was when my grandma and her two sisters "kicked" Valentine's for us. They left some candy and a little disco shaker thing. Apparently back in the day, the way you left a Valentine for someone was to put it on the porch, kick the door, and run! So Gram did that for us and we loved it!) When I came to the front door, the kids were still looking for who had rung the doorbell, except Sophia who was already trying to get her candy open. Dan showed me the boxes and asked me who I thought had left them. Duh. Did he not recognize my handwriting? When Kassie saw them, she came right over to me and hugged me. She recognizes my handwriting:)



Then to dinner, which was supposed to be breakfast but I apparently don't love my kids as much as some moms do, the moms who get up extra early to make this fancy breakfast and eat it actually for breakfast. I think my kids will remember it just as well as a dinner. Anyway, we had heart shaped pink pancakes, strawberries & whip cream, eggs, bacon, OJ, and strawberry milk (which didn't go over too well. Go figure.) The kids loved it. We had a fun, no fights dinner, which is a gift in itself. It was a great night. Then we left to deliver a few Valentine's of our own, and disgracefully left our mess on the table. But thanks to our little dog, he cleaned up all the bacon while we were gone. Gross.

This is only what I did for my little family. Of course all the kids had school parties and had to have treats and Valentine cards. I made cupcakes for Caroline and Sydney (another side note: Wilton's had a heart cupcake pan that I thought would be sooo fun. It doesn't work, even if you follow the directions to a T.) So obviously, they got regular cupcakes but they were very cute! For Kassie, Amelia, and Colin (my niece and nephew), I made heart shaped brownies, mini cupcakes and chocolate truffles rolled in sprinkles. I know, crazy. But you should have seen their faces when they realized they got to take it to school. Priceless and worth all the bother, including having to borrow eggs from the neighbor because it was so late at night and I really didn't want to go to the store. Anyway, it was great.

Oh, Dan and I had lunch together on Valentine's Day and that was it. No jewelry. No cards. No candy. No flowers. And I was really okay with that. Because this is what I have finally realized after so many years: you can buy fancy stuff for Valentine's. You can go out to fancy dinner. But the real love is shown in the little things you do for each other (I'm including all the people you thought to give Valentine's love to). Dan works hard for our family every day. I do laundry and dished over and over and over and over, because I love my family. People show kindness every day of the year. So do we need a special day to show each other? Yes. Because otherwise, we take it for granted and get bogged down in the mundane, expecting it, and we forget to celebrate how wonderful our mundane is. That's my current theory of Valentine's Day. Hope yours was great!