I kind of think Valentine’s Day is an overrated, cheesy, Hallmark holiday. Sorry if you find that a bit harsh. My husband and I much prefer to go on a date night some random night of the week that’s not on a Holiday. We prefer going out on nights that aren’t crazy busy wherever we are going. It doesn’t mean we aren’t romantic or judge others for doing something special on valentine’s day, it’s just not for us.
In fact, some of my favorite Valentine’s Day memories are ones I wasn’t even doing anything with my significant other. One year (as a senior in high school) I wrote all my friends letters about the things I appreciated about them. At the time, I remember feeling like I needed to not take my friendships for granted. One letter, in particular, was actually written to a special friend I had. I wrote a letter to the guy who would one day become my husband! I believe that my letter thanking him for being my friend and telling him how I actually loved him as a friend helped to ground our future romantic relationship. Now, we’ve been married for almost 9 years and have known each other for 15.
Another favorite Valentine’s memory I have was having a fancy girls only dinner party. I was in college at this time and instead of all of us, once single girls feeling lonely that we didn’t have boyfriends yet, we decided to treat ourselves extravagantly and have an awesome dinner party together. It was all the girls in my dorm room hall. We found the perfect hostess with all the special decor and the table spread. We dressed formally, got a ton of flowers and had fancy homemade Italian food. It definitely is still one of my favorite Valentine’s memories ever! Even if you are married now you could still totally rock an awesome girls night for Valentine’s Day if you wanted. Those relationships in our lives are so special!
I enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day with my kids now that I have them. I want them to know that Valentine’s Day can be a fun Holiday to tell anyone how much you care for and love them. It doesn’t have to be a romantic lovey-dovey holiday only, it can be celebrating all kinds of love: friendship, familial, work-related, and romantic.
At home crafts with kids are an easy and cheap way to make Valentine’s Day fun. We can do simple things like cut out hearts with construction paper. We can practice writing the names of our loved ones and thinking about what we appreciate and love about them. I also have a cute heart shaped cookie cutter. We can use it to make heart- shaped pancakes and have a yummy breakfast for dinner night.
Another great idea, especially if you have older kids, is to use this Holiday for a teaching opportunity. Do some research on the history of Valentine’s Day to get a really good grasp of how our traditions and culture have been shaped over time.
Don’t forget about the special teachers or daycare providers in your children’s lives too. Sometimes a nice bar of dark chocolate or a gift card to a nice coffee place is all it takes to show a teacher you really appreciate the hard work they do.
Whatever you decide to do this Valentine’s Day I hope you enjoy it. It doesn’t have to just be about buying the fancy greeting card for your significant other. You can celebrate in little ways. You could go on a date on a different night. Valentine’s could be a special time with your kids telling them what you love and appreciate about them. Then they can see by example how to show others love and appreciation. I always love hearing what my kids say when my husband and I ask them what they love about their siblings. Sometimes it is funny and cute but other times it is really eye-opening and special.
Happy Valentine’s Day friends!
