Celebrating Valentine's Day

So far this year I haven't done much in the way of decorating. When I put out the Valentine's Day books, no one so much as glanced at them. So I sat down with my kids one evening and attempted to have holiday reading time. I opened the Winnie the Pooh book first, and assumed my storytelling voice. But by the third page, one kid was laying on the floor feigning sleep and the other two were playing with bits of paper in the carpet. I'll admit, the story line was totally predictable--by the first page you just knew that Pooh would mess up his Valentine's cards by spilling honey on them and Tigger would get so frustrated with the project that he would bounce off to play in the woods, leaving his cards in a messy pile on the floor. No surprises there. 

I tried a board book next, a cute little story about some mice. But that one just made the kids groan. What I really needed were some books with wizards in them, something with a title like Valentines for Voldemort or a an edition of Captain Underpants with a Valentine theme. My kids, I am sorry to say, are too old for the little kid books we've read for years and years. This saddens me. Ever since the kids were babies I couldn't wait for them to grow up. But now that they are, I'm learning that there's a trade off. While I am very glad to be done with potty training three little boys, it sure stinks that no one will read picture books with me anymore or hound me to tape decorations to the windows. 

But I'm not ready to give up a special Valentine's breakfast. Tomorrow I will wake up early and make heart pancakes for my boys. I will put a few drops of red food coloring in the milk to turn it pink. And I will hang those shiny hearts and string red and pink crepe paper from the ceiling. And I will give everyone a big kiss on the cheek, whether they want one or not. Because I'm the mom. And just because they're growing up doesn't mean I have to. 

Here are some links to past posts with Valentine's ideas:

heart cupcakes

valentine's day breakfast

Comments

[shelby]

Good for you...and I really believe that even if they roll their eyes and make faces now, they will still remember this day and your tradition of a valentines breakfast. (Probably even make their future wives do it for their kids 'cause that's the way THEIR mom did it!) Happy Valentines!