I am so excited about Valentine’s Day! My husband and I usually do a date night –  sushi, typically – and while that’s always fun, and I really enjoy getting some alone time with my hubby; I’m looking forward to Valentine’s Day for a different reason this year.

At first, I couldn’t really figure out why I’m so jazzed about Valentine’s Day this year. I’m not crazy about hearts, I prefer jelly beans to chocolate, and my husband and I don’t make a big deal out of the holiday. However, I began to realize that I have really fond memories, of the Valentines parties we  had  in grade school. Since this is the boys’ first year in preschool, that means it’s the first year they get to do a Valentine’s party and card exchange.

Valentine’s Day as a kid

I keep thinking about how much I enjoyed Valentine’s Day as a kid. I have mentioned before that I am not crafty and that it was even worse when I was young. I always colored outside the lines and my drawings were hard to decipher. One time our teacher gave us each a big piece of paper and said we could make anything we wanted, I tried making a paper purse; which just ended up being a messy blob of paper, glue and tissues. The teacher later told me she meant we could draw whatever we wanted to. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Well, why didn’t she say that?

When it came to Valentine’s Day though, I really tried to do my best and make my Valentine’s mailbox the best that it could be! I was sure to put just the right amount of glitter, hearts and paper doilies on it. I also carefully wrote my name, so it would be easy for my classmates to locate.

I loved when it was time to go around placing our cards and goodies into each other’s bags. After that we would sit down and go through them. That’s when I had to see if, 1) the boy I had a crush on gave me a card and 2) analyze what the card was trying to tell me. Did he like me, like-like me, or should I just drown my sorrows in some Tang and forget about him because the card said “I don’t want to be your Valentine.” Lucky for me, there aren’t any Valentine’s cards like that (at least not in the packages that kids give out), so I always came out hopeful.

Anyway, my boys aren’t at that age yet but N. carefully selected his Spider-man Valentine’s with lollipops for his class and A. chose Scooby-Doo with pencils. They keep asking me when they can take their cards to school and have their party. I guess I’m not the only one who is excited. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Are you doing anything for Valentine’s Day? What is your favorite Valentine’s Day memory?