Valentine's Day Plans

I believe I mentioned that last year I was surprised when Meg came home from daycare on February 15th with a bag full of Valentines. We didn’t send any, in part because she wasn’t at daycare on Valentine’s Day and also because she was 20 months old. Oh, and we’d also come back from our cruise two days before. We essentially skipped Valentine’s Day as a family, figuring a 7-day Caribbean vacation took care of special days for at least the month of February. I felt a little bad about the fact everyone else had Valentines to give out and she didn’t, but, you know, 7-day Caribbean vacation.

This year, I’m determined to do everything right. I don’t want to be the mom who drops the ball two years in a row. She only goes to daycare on Tuesdays, so I told myself approximately a hundred times to remember to get a class list today so we could put names on Valentines. I did so and even remembered to ask for the name of the teacher who isn’t there when I drop Meg off. The Dora Valentines should come this week. I bought little boxes of stickers to go with them. I signed up to bring juice to the Valentine’s Day party. I’M ON THIS.

Julie mentioned something about a Valentines box on Twitter and I hadn’t thought of that. There wasn’t anything up at daycare about bringing boxes. Last year, Meg’s Valentines came home in a plastic grocery sack. But what if that’s because she was the only one without a box? So I decided we’re making one. I have the perfect size shoebox, construction paper, and stickers. We’ll put “Meg’s Valentines” on it and send the ones she’s giving out in the box, so if they are not supposed to have one we can say it was just her Valentine-delivering vessel.

I’m considering what to do for a special breakfast and/or dinner. There is no way I’m getting up at 5 to make heart-shaped pancakes. She only wants cereal for breakfast, anyway. Maybe we’ll just do heart-shaped pizzas for dinner? I’m also considering a small scavenger hunt or maybe a new book.

What am I forgetting? I’ve never been into small holidays. Thomas and I rarely even go out to dinner for Valentine’s Day. But this year I’m on a roll, so I’ve decided I want to WIN at Valentine’s Day. It’ll cushion the blow when we do exactly nothing for…whatever holiday is next.