I’m kind of one of those people who consider Valentine’s Day a Hallmark-created holiday. Growing up, I tried not to buy into the importance of the day and the romantic notions that permeate this holiday. I wasn’t quite successful.
There was a part of me that longed for the flowers and chocolates and the boyfriend who’d treat me like a queen on this special day. But, that was only a part of me. The other part of me didn’t want to be defined by whom I was with or how I was treated when February 14 rolled around.
When I was dating Tom, and when we got married, we spent a couple of our Valentine’s Days on a double date with my best friend, Peggy, and her husband, Jimmy. Those nights were fun. It wasn’t schmaltzy or overly romantic, but an evening with good friends we cared about. I remember one year, before The Littlest E came home with us, we decided to stay home and, rather than dine out at an expensive restaurant, we cooked chateaubriand, broccoli rabe, and, for the life of me I can’t recall our dessert. That evening was exceedingly romantic. Side by side in the kitchen we created our culinary masterpieces, ate dinner in a candlelit setting and had an amazing evening. Sometimes, just to be different, we celebrate February 13th instead.
Now that we are a family, I like the idea of a family Valentine’s Day. Why not? The Littlest E has been in preschool the last few years and each year in class the kids make something for the parents for Valentine’s Day. They also give each other Valentine’s cards. It’s the cutest thing to watch him open cards from all his friends. He’s still has a number of them from when he was 2 years old! Why not include him in our celebration?
I know you might be thinking that Valentine’s Day is an excuse to get a sitter and go out, paint the town red with your spouse, and have a romantic dinner, but why not have a family dinner out or a family dinner in? Tom and I can have romance anytime. We can make this Valentine’s Day a special day for our family. Maybe we’ll go see a movie, if there’s a kids’ movie playing. Maybe we’ll make dinner together as a family or go out to dinner. Not quite sure what we’ll do. Tom isn’t a big Valentine’s Day guy so I’m sure he’d be up for this.
What I do know is that The Littlest E loves celebrations and loves it when we’re altogether as a family. We often do a family hug where Tom and I pick him up and we hug each other and kiss each other at the same time. Perhaps we’ll include one of those in our family Valentine’s Day. Yep, this year it’s about family. My son is growing up and time goes by so quickly that before we know it, he’ll want to do his own thing on Valentine’s Day. For this holiday, I’ll treasure that he’s young enough to want to spend time with us and take advantage of this Hallmark holiday to create special memories for him and for us.
May your Valentine’s Day be everything you want it to be.