“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”
Psalms 127:3 NKJV
I’ve never been big on Valentine’s Day. In Jr. High, one of my friends told me it was her favorite holiday: I rolled my eyes over the phone and mentally moved her friendship ranking lower.
It’s not that I don’t love love, it’s that I experience it every day of the year so that Valentine’s Day doesn’t hold this sacred anticipation and expectations of feeling extra special. It also doesn’t hold the chance for major disappointments.
It holds a spot on the calendar. That’s about it.
I told Jeff last year that I’m okay with Valentine’s Day being for the kids. I think we both are better with this in our current season. Here’s what we did:
Jeff bought the kids flowers and got a bouquet for me, too. I made them each a valentine with a poem and we made pink strawberry waffles for breakfast.
We all went to the carrousel and rode it twice. We played at the park next to it for a bit more fun.
Afterward, the kids each made personal heart-shaped pizzas for dinner. I made a deep dish pizza for Jeff and my own Deb-compliant pizza for myself.
We sat and laughed when my youngest stuffed his cheeks with olives and rejoiced over that fact that he actually ate his pizza (he is in a super picky eating phase. It’s a whole thing and we all can hardly wait for it to be over.). My daughters were encouraging of him and also ate really well – including both of them wanting the last bell pepper.
Jeff enjoyed the oozey cheese in the bottom of his pizza and I cut the edges off my pizza for dinner and threw the rest back in to finish baking/dehydrating in the oven. (When your pizza is made from non-regular ingredients, cooking processes change purposes – I’ve never made a gluten free pizza that was “too crusty”, but being too wet is a very undesirable problem I run into quite often.)
Our day still had cleaning, squabbling, down time, play time, and deciding dinner. Also lots of dishes… Always dishes…
It was a fun day and a great Saturday, but not because it was a holiday: I was with the people I love.
Just like every day, where simple acts and traditions – like pink breakfast foods – made the day more fun, but what made the day special was who I got to spend it with. Whether the calendar tells me it is or not.