Valentine’s Day, February 14, is a fun day for young and old! It is a day to think about those we love and celebrate friendship and kindness. It was one of my favorite winter vacations when the kids were younger, as I loved all the hubbub of school parties, scouts, and Sunday school. It was a break from the winter blues! I loved going to the store so that everyone could choose their own Valentine. Back then, “computer printables” weren’t in the vocabulary, if you can believe it! We bought the old boxed cards that you ripped on the perforated lines. They loved choosing their own themes, being on Ninja Turtles, Superheroes, Care Bears or Cabbage Patch Kids. Yes, I am definitely dating myself when I think back to those years. Then we would take boxes and each wrap and decorate their own individual mailboxes! When Valentines began to arrive from relatives; in the box they would go until Valentine’s Day!
At our house, we always add one donation component per day. We would bake and deliver homemade cookies to older neighbors. We collected coins in a large jug decorated for Valentine’s Day that we had decorated shortly after Christmas and had fun watching it grow. On Valentine’s Day we would count the coins and decide where we would donate the money. One year it was the local volunteer Fire Department, as my son thought, since the trucks were red and Santa always visited the city with the firemen every year, who were to receive the gift. We made gifts for all the grandparents, who are still at Grandma and Grandpa’s house today. We tried to get the children to focus on the ideas of loving and caring, as well as the fun of receiving.
Over the years, we’ve done different things to celebrate the same day, but his all-time favorite was the “Sweet Treat” special. From the moment they got up, they could eat in whatever order they wanted. I put all the food on the table, from the main course to the desserts, and they were able to eat it in any order they wanted! It’s probably the worst idea ever, and nutritionists and pediatricians alike will scold me alike, but now they’ve all grown up and not gotten worse from wear and tear, and it’s still one of their favorite Valentine’s Day memories! Valentine!
As they got older, my husband and I started having adult Valentine’s parties. Sometimes he would go out to dinner with friends and then come back to our house for dessert. Other times it was a cocktail party or a dessert and drink gathering. We always closed the night with a fun game and I really think that was the highlight of the party.