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I don’t know about you but valentines day causes two reactions for me- one it evokes a fond memory of childhood carefully planning, painting, and gluing together the most magnificent valentines box every year. It was one of my all-time favorite projects and I took great pride in my creative masterpieces!
The second feeling though is of adult annoyance. I hate the influx of mushy commercials trying to sell diamonds or giant teddy bears (p.s. guys no one over the age of 7 wants a ginormous teddy bear). I don’t feel like valentines day is a holiday that needs to be celebrated myself honestly. I would much rather have a date night any other night of the year when I actually have a chance at getting reservations at our favorite restaurant. Flowers mean just as much, if not more, on a random Tuesday just because. And I am not one who needs much so gifts aren’t necessary, especially on a day when people may feel pressured to give them.
I know many who love Valentine’s day and I say good for you! Celebrate as lavishly as you want and enjoy it! My husband and I though, we usually spent the evening quietly at home with little recognition of it. That is until our middle daughter discovered the holiday.
In her sweet little 5-year-old eyes Valentine’s day was here and it was going to be wonderful! She loves all things fancy and she was adamant that valentines day be celebrated- and celebrated big! My husband who is wrapped around that girl’s tiny finger eagerly obliged and promptly took her shopping for valentines day gifts for me.
Now I had zero plans on how to make Valentine’s Day special- again I don’t do Valentine’s Day but here I am trying to come up with a plan to create that memory for our sweet little ones (she had also now recruited the excitement of her siblings, great…)
When my husband returned from the store with our daughter she was grinning ear to ear and proudly handed me a giant heart-shaped box of candy, a single red rose, and a very ugly stuffed red dog. My husband was smirking behind her because she picked it all out and he let her even if it was ugly she loved it. She then promptly asked for some candy and if she could keep the toy dog when I was “done with it”.
My husband sweetly had two other flowers in his hand and a candy bar. One rose for each of our little girls, each in a different color- and the candy bar for our son. That was the moment my heart fluttered for the first time on valentines day. The idea that daddy buys all his girls a single flower got me. I am pretty lucky to have a man who gets how important it is for a girl to have those memories. (This is a tradition he has kept up every year since by the way).
Our daughter then instructed me that we were going to need to have a fancy dinner in honor of valentines day- complete with fancy clothes. OK, I can do that I figured! So we got to work and pulled out the tablecloth, nice dishes, candles, and wine glasses for everyone. In the center of our table, we put all three of our roses.
Then I instructed everyone to go get dressed for dinner in their favorite clothes. My husband and I took a quick order of what everyone wanted for dinner. It is the only time we will cook multiple meals! We are not a restaurant, but on Valentine’s day everyone gets to choose what they want for dinner (within reason) My son chose a cheeseburger, the middle girl wanted chicken nuggets, the littlest wanted pancakes, and hubby and I decided on crab legs since it was a special occasion after all!
The girls arrived for dinner in their finest princess outfits complete with tiaras and blue eye shadow. My son decided to dine in sweatpants and his favorite hoodie, but my husband and I dressed up to make the girls feel special. I let them pick out which dress I should wear from my closet and put on high heels. My husband wore a vest and tie. We all looked and felt pretty good actually!
As we all sat around our dining room table enjoying each of our favorite foods on fancy plates and drinking juice and soda from fancy cups I realized that this new Valentine’s Day tradition was going to be one of my favorites.
Since that first Valentines Day, we have added a few other ideas to our family celebration to help make it special. So here is a recap and some new ideas I will add this year.
- Set the table for dinner with all your fancy dishes, including wine glasses if you have them
- Dress up in your favorite clothes, fancy or comfy, whatever you want
- Let everyone pick what they want for dinner (even a special trip to the store together to get stuff for dinner somehow feels special on this day)
- Make an extra special dessert- ice cream sundaes, fancy cake, or decorate cookies
- Everyone makes & exchanges valentines for each other
- Take turns asking each family member questions “How do you know I love you?” “How do you show us you love us?” The answers will melt your heart I promise!
- Tell the children about your first date ever, and about your first date together. Tell them about being in love with each other or how their grandparents meet and fell in love
- Dance after dinner. Play fun dance party tunes, teach your littles how to waltz to classical music, or sway to your wedding playlist or other musical hits from when you fell in love (and don’t forget to tell the kids all the mushy memories that go with each song)
- Look through old wedding photos of your own or past generations
- Record a video message of the whole family saying “Happy Valentines Day- we love you!” and send it to everyone who needs to hear it
Maybe you can try a few of these ideas too!
Our daughter reminded us that year, without even knowing it, that Valentine’s Day was a perfect day to be together and show each other how much we love each other. Real love isn’t about diamonds or extravagant restaurants. For us it is plastic princess tiaras, burgers served on fine china, and single roses.
I hope you all celebrate and spend a little extra time with your village this Valentines Day. Create some memories and remind them just why you love and appreciate them today and always!
