2021 Valentine’s Day
We started prepping for Valentine’s Day the first of February. Teaching Parker that while we love each other every day, Valentine’s Day is when we celebrate love with everyone. Given his age, that meant we were going to make a special craft for those he loves most. A couple weeks ago, we downloaded a few vectors from #Shutterstock to decorate personalized Valentine’s Day cards. Parker was going to make one for his cousins, aunts and
We used this opportunity to practice tracing and writing his name in each card. Parker worked diligently and made a total of 11 cards! We even mailed out the cards for his cousins early so they would feel special receiving mail and have them before we saw them today.
To celebrate at home, we put together little gift baskets for each of the boys to open first thing in the morning. Each basket included a new book. Parker has been showing interest in Curious George so he was gifted the flip book “Happy Valentine’s Day, Curious George” and Lincoln loves Llama Llama so he received the age appropriate book “Llama Llama I Love You“. I packed those in the car before we left so we could read them as we drove from house to house.
We spent the rest of the day house-hopping, exchanging Valentines and dropping off homemade cupcakes to friends and family. Since we’re still in the midst of a pandemic we congregated in driveways while the littles chased each other around the yards. Parker had a blast and I’m glad he’s adjusted to wearing a mask. He’s always talking about his cousins and today he got to play with them in person! What made me a little sad was that Lincoln wasn’t as social as his brother. Due to the pandemic, he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to play and bond with much of our extended family, so they are practically strangers to him.
The way we spent today is not how we typically spend Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s because the holiday is often promoted as a sexy or romantic couple’s holiday and it was nice to celebrate it in a different way. Sharing the holiday with my children, particularly one who can comprehend what is going on, caused me to reevaluate the holiday in its entirety. Romantic love isn’t the only love to be celebrated on Valentine’s Day. It’s the love between a parent and child, love between siblings, love among friends, love between an aunt and nephews and so forth. It’s a day to remind those you care about, how much they mean to you. Whether it’s with a simple text, card, gift or, when the pandemic is under control, a big hug. Seeing everyone smiling and enjoying the simplicity of each other’s presence was a blessing.
All that being said, Brian and I DID have a moment to ourselves. We ended the night eating cupcakes in bed, cuddled watching 30 Rock.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
L. Bradley 