Sharing Love In A Big Way
Valentine’s Day 1994. My four year old daughter and I were visiting the grandmas to share some love. For my mom, we made the most gigantic valentine we possibly could. She likes to put holiday magnets and things on her fridge so we knew she’d like it.
I have this picture in a photo album and the description I had written says it all. I’m so glad I scrapbooked that. For one thing, I had forgotten that my daughter had a paper tube collection – how funny! Probably the best thing about this ginormous valentine is that my mom stores it away and brings it out again every year and we snap another pic of it with its creator.
I’m going to drop in a St. Patrick’s Day note here. We did the same thing with a giant shamrock when my younger daughter was little, so she and Gram have their own legacy.
Back to valentines. My mother-in-law was a puzzle person, so we cut a heart shape out of thin cardboard, gave it the full valentine treatment as above, then cut it up in pieces and they assembled it together many times.
The following year we were at my MIL’s house when one of her other grandchildren came by, straight from school with all the goodies and little valentines he got that day. It was fun to see and he shared his cache with his cousin. I wondered if my homeschooler would feel cheated but I think she just enjoyed it as part of the day and that was it.
But the next year, I planned ahead. In late January, I found a box that was about a foot square and we decorated it with doilies, stickers, etc. I cut a slit in the top and a trap door in the bottom. We set it out in the living room and proceeded to make valentines for each other and deposit them. Our own valentine mailbox.
Okay, we were a family of three at the time and a big box with a few cards wasn’t exactly exciting so we made a bunch for each other. Art supplies are always at hand in our house and our daughter loved secreting away and making cute notes to sneak in there any time the mood hit her.
My husband is very good at buying cards for special occasions; not so good at crafting them. But, we had to produce our share. The pressure was on. How many times can you say the same thing?
Well, here’s how.
We got creative and drew in important “others” of our child’s life. We glued a bear-shaped graham cracker on a doily and wrote “I can bear-ly say how much I love you” and signed it from Uncle Tim Teddy (her giant stuffed bear that was a gift from I think you can guess who). We cut a piece of construction paper in a fish shape and wrote “I love you with all my fins” – Sparkle (her beta fish). Her beloved stuffed Dalmatian said he had a “spot” in his heart for her.
We used my scrapbook paper pile and sticker collection for inspiration too.
Every February 1st after, the box came out and got loaded up. There were greetings from her American Girl dolls (“You’re so Colonial” from Felicity Merriman), people in the news, musicians we liked, historical figures we studied in school….all kinds of goofy stuff. She caught on and did the same for us. I remember the year that “Bob Dylan” sent her dad a note, and one of the presidents said he “loved” the new job - haha.
I bought little gifts, similar to stocking stuffers. My husband was in charge of the candy and his usual store-bought cards to round things out. On the morning of the 14th, we opened the trap door and let it all fall out.
The box got repaired over the years and finally we had to replace it altogether when it met with a mishap in the attic, about the time our second child came along. We made the new one the same way and kept the tradition going. We’ve even saved a few of the cards through the years, for extra laughs and warm fuzzies about silly times gone by.
Their teenage cousin that lived with us for a couple years enjoyed it too. The Chinese foreign exchange student that we hosted one year didn’t really understand this quirky American family tradition, but he enjoyed his share of the candy.
For me, it was a way for the girls to not miss out on a fun holiday just because they didn’t have classmates. And, it was an excuse to buy socks with hearts on them, gaudy sequin covered light switch covers, heart shaped erasers, etc.
I don’t know whether kids will be doing the usual valentine stuff in school this year or not, but either way, you may want to make your own valentine mailox and start dreaming up some creative greetings and salutations. You’re sure to love it, one and all.
