Valentine’s started way in advance. In my calculation, I had to produce 60 valentines between the two girls and two sets of schools (Mom’s group and day care). Shopping for Valentine’s cards was enlightening. They are really fun now. I bought holograms that converted from a caterpillar to a butterfly, girly ones with butterfly tatoos included, and my favorite, monster bookmarks. I wanted Sara to help me, but I’ve found that my 5 yo doesn’t like doing the same thing over 10 times. I was surprised. One day, Laura was still sleeping and I had to work on writing. Sara brought the Valentine’s up and started labeling them. She did her own and most of her sisters. In past years, we had to put everyone’s name on the cards. I think the teachers at school have given that up. Now you just have to record your name.
Sara had her Valentine’s prepared 3 weeks ahead of time. I had to break the new to her that now, after all her hard work, she had to wait. She continued to work on her Valentine’s, adding stickers, dividing boys and girls valentines, etc. A couple of times she got very anxious, worried that they wouldn’t be pretty enough.
I was still writing pretty intensely this week. I wanted to finish my rough draft to have the time to finesse my paper, so I was looking for any time available. I’ve skipped several Mom’s groups to have the morning to write. This week, I decided to go so Sara could attend her Valentine’s day party. As I was walking into Mom’s group, I mentioned this to a couple other Moms. I got some blank stares and one response, “Oh, a Hallmark holiday.” This remark has some context, which I’ll take as an aside.
A member of our group has broken out of the stay-at-home mold and managed to publish a lovely book called Circle of Seasons. It’s a lovely, thought-provoking book. It talks about how to make the liturgical calendar intersect with real life. Not a stay up till midnight topic, but I’ve found it influencing my life in fun ways. I’ve been looking for ways to make God a daily part of life. There is prayer and Bible reading, but this book gave me some new ideas and perspectives. I’ve seen the power of the cultural calendar in my kids lives. First kids don’t know what the candy at Halloween or the presents at Xmas are about. But by age 5, my Sara is a pro. Valentine’s is a good example. School brings these concepts into sharp focus. So why should culture get all the fun? So I like the idea of following the church calendar. It’s just another way to bring God and Jesus into sharper focus into my family’s life. It doesn’t mean I don’t celebrate my cultural holiday. I’m about to write words about how I did that. But it does mean, I try to place a higher value on the events in the church calendar. So that is where the comment about Valentine’s day came from.
Laura arrived in her class of 1-2 yr olds. I didn’t really expect her to get any Valentine’s. But if she sees her sister do it, she has to bring a bag of Valentine’s. Sara, my pro, started to show her sister how to work the room. It was sweet to see Laura give cards away and receive nothing in return and be glowing. She gave some to her teachers and the expressions were just delightful. Unexpected happiness. Sara’s class had a planned exchange, but not everyone brought cards. It was nice and low-key in that way.
It still wasn’t the real V-day. The girls went to school on Friday so I could write and they could enjoy their V-day parties. In school, they came home with the real swag- CANDY. Holograms be darned. Between my birthday the weekend before, it has felt like a never ending party.
My Valentine’s day came a little early. For my birthday, Wayne gave me a big box of Theo chocolate truffles. They’re designed for couples with little hints of aphrodisiacs like licorice, chili peppers, and saffron. There are two of each truffle so there is not fighting.
Thursday was my grocery day. I didn’t have time to plan a menu ahead of time, but planned to pick up a Real Simple magazine and just buy the ingredients for their menu. It turned out they aren’t sold at Fred Meyer. So I turned to the iPhone. I got a recipe for flank steak with arugula salad and cremini mushroom balsalmic cream sauce. It looked reasonable to do after a day of writing and with screaming kids.
Saturday, Wayne gave me the best V-day gift, real and raw. He gave me the third consecutive Saturday he’s watched the kids and done Saturday chores with little or no input from me. I put in a long 8 hr day of writing. My body was screaming at the end and I was eager to do anything else. The best part was I got the first draft finished.
So, after such a day, I willed myself to have romantic thoughts and started cooking. Wayne grilled the steak and fed the kids. I worked on the sauce and cleaning the kitchen. We lite a candle and turned down the lights. During my romantic meal, I got to blow up a balloon, share my sparkling apple cider with my 2 yo, prevent said 2 yo from dumping over the bottle of red wine that she took for juice, and act as a referee. The steak was excellent. It satisfied my taste buds. Afterwards, Laura, Sara, and I melted chocolate and made chocolate covered strawberries. This is a V-day tradition for us. We cleaned up chocolate the best way I know how, with our tongues. Wayne and I were exhausted. Laura protested being put to bed. We had some vague thoughts about watching Atonement, but just collapsed into bed. Happy V-day with kids!