I kind of hate Valentine's Day.
Maybe "hate" is too strong a word. I guess I just find the day to be crummy on several levels.
The one good association I have with Valentine's Day is only in retrospect.
Valentine's Day 2000, I was recovering from a recent break-up and had deemed myself the, "Anti-Valentine". I refused to wear even a stitch of red as a protest of the day, but the good that came out of it was that it was also the day my husband first introduced himself to me and gave me his phone number. Four days later we had our first date and the rest is history.
But back to my thoughts on Valentine's Day...
For a person not in a romantic relationship, Valentine's Day can be a crummy day for obvious reasons.
I think most of us can agree that at least at one point, Valentine's Day has been a day of sadness, loneliness, envy and disappointment and it's just felt like a faux holiday created by a team of marketing geniuses at Hallmark, Hershey's and FTD.
If you've never felt that way, you should probably keep that to yourself. Certainly keep it from me.
For a person in a romantic relationship, Valentine's Day can be crummy because as with Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, the day can so easily end up being a giant let-down. We are told what should "ideally" happen on these days: who we should be with, what we should be doing, saying, feeling, buying, receiving, eating and drinking, that if the check-list isn't fulfilled, it's so easy to experience a range of negative emotions.
Furthermore, why should there be
one day out of three hundred and sixty-five, in which we are expected to profess our love to someone as well as expect to be told that we are loved. Aren't expressions of love more meaningful when they are
unexpected. I'd much rather discover a
Post-it note with an affectionate message on it, stuck to the refrigerator on any given day, than receive a card on February 14th, simply because it's Valentine's Day.
That said, I didn't feel this way when I was first married because I felt then that I finally had a Valentine for life and with that came the expectation that I would finally enjoy the "holiday" the way I imagined other people in relationships did. That was an error.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like my husband and I don't acknowledge the day. We exchange cards. And that's only because he knows I like receiving and keeping cards from him, because while he isn't the most expressive person, when he gives me cards, he writes the sweetest messages that melt my heart ev-e-ry time. That said, after that moment has passed, the rest of the day is just like every other day and somehow I feel like we're supposed to be in some cloud of rekindled romance while we're dealing with the kids and every day stuff of life. I suppose we could get a babysitter and go out to dinner but we just don't. I think we're subconsciously rebelling against the day and have become a kind of Anti-Valentine couple, which I think is actually romantic unto itself.
And what about adolescence?!
That's when the days of bringing in Valentines for every one in your class were over and the day just became a way to clarify who was in the "popular" clique, and who was not.
Did anyone else have candy grams and long stem roses in middle and high school on Valentine's day?
Worst. Idea. Ever! And I'm guessing my Alma Mater put the kabbash on that practice.
Hence, I titled this post, "V is for Valentine", because now the day for me is all about the little kids. I think it's a sweet holiday, both figuratively and literally for them, and an opportunity to make things with hearts, lots of pink and red, and as with any holiday, GLITTER.
So, here's to celebrating a day of love and friendship with the the young and innocent valentines in your life. I hope some of these cute, fun and yummy looking treats inspire your creativity and help make the day special for you and those you love.
P.S. If you don't have a grown-up valentine this year, it would be my pleasure if you would be mine.
Happy Valentine's Day
I think I'll go write my husband a Post-it note :)
Crafty Valentines:
Free Printables:
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| You Are Amazing Card from |
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| Friendship Bracelet Valentines from Dandee |
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| Magnifying Glass Valentines from Dandee |
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| Heart Breakers from Made |
Yummy Valentines:
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| Double-Decker, Stripey, Valentine Cookies from Bake at 350 |
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| Chocolate-Dipped Heart Cookies from Pillsbury |
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Pretzel Buttons from Happy Home Fairy
(I made these delicious treats for my Super Bowl Party with waffle pretzels but I love how the traditional pretzel shape looks like a heart) |
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Candy Cane-White Chocolate Pops and Popcorn Balls from Pleasant Home
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| Sweetly Stated Cupcakes from Wilton |
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| Frozen Yogurt-Dipped Strawberries from Glamour |
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| Frozen Yogurt Pops from WebMD |
Addendum:
Time to come up with what I'm going to do for my kids' class valentines. I don't feel comfortable with sending in loose candy and there are always pencils, stickers, tattoos and and
Hersheys Kisses. Last year I wasn't very original or creative giving
Fun Dip valentines for my daughter's class and heart-shaped lollipops for my son's class, so this year I wanted to do something a little more unique, without much cost or effort. The other day, I saw these Jelly Belly Conversation Beans and
had to get them. They spoke to me (get it, spoke to me?) because I've always liked the look and concept of
Necco Sweethearts (commonly known as "conversation hearts") but never the chalky taste, and figure kids don't like the taste too much either. I think it's safe to say that most kids like Jelly Belly's, I know
I do, so I bought the remaining boxes at
Shaw's (they had them at
Michael's, but only a few were left), and now I don't know what to do with them.
There's a place on the back to write in who it's for and whom it's from, but the problem is that then you'd need to remove the shrink wrap and at that point they're the same as loose candy. I was thinking I could make a heart tag and tie it around the box with ribbon. Or I could just tape a tag on the back. I tried putting the box in a cellophane bag but it seemed odd to bag a box. Anyone have any other ideas? Whatever I end up doing, I'll take a pic a post it below. Thanks!
I don't have enough Jelly Belly Conversation Beans for my son's preschool class and was going to see if I could get my hands on some more, but this morning I found these adorable "Fun Dough" valentines at
Walgreens and think they're the
perfect for his little friends. Each one has a heart-shaped To: and From: sticker to put on the back. So cute and only $3.99 for a pack of eighteen!
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| Fun Dough Valentines |
I saw these cute, valentine mini-pain cans at
Michaels when I was looking for an idea for my daughter's class valentines, but there were $2.00 a piece which was too steep for me since she has fifteen classmates. I happened to be at Micahel's today and saw a few of them on the clearance rack for $1.00 each, so I thought they'd make special teacher valentines for both of my kids' classes. I bought a bag of valentine M&M's and had these pink tags in my scrapbooking stash. I love how they turned out :)
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| Teacher Valentine: Mini Paint Cans with M&M's |
since you're the sharpie queen--break out those bad boys and write ON the cellophane! :)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure that would work, but yah, you're right, Sharpie's write on ANYthing! It's not exactly creative, but neither is a box of jelly candy, so if you approve, I'm fine with that : ) Thanks, Kristin!
ReplyDelete