I used to love Valentine's Day. The anticipation of snuggling up to Adam and enjoying one another. And the beautiful red roses. Can't forget those. Ahh. How I miss his surprises. I just miss him. Dang.
So (a little grudgingly, I must admit) I got out a few Valentine's decorations. I didn't do something ultra-fabulous for breakfast today. Just some red food coloring in apple juice and in cereal milk, in our Valentine dishes. But since Spencer refused to wipe off his red milk mustache before heading to school, you would've thought that I had slaved away at breakfast, the way I was treated like royalty from the teachers at morning drop off, all impressed by Spencer's mustache. I was amused.
I was trying to figure out the best way to help the boys enjoy this "special" day without making myself nuts. I found myself having an overwhelming urge to pop helium balloons when we wandered through grocery stores this week. And then it hit me. I knew what we were going to do.
I blew up 40 balloons. Nearly passed out, but I did it. Red, pink, and white balloons. I filled our family room with them. I had an after school meeting until 5 p.m., so I realized my cooking a special dinner on our valentine's dishes just wasn't happening. So I set the table when I left the house for Spencer's V-Day party (at 2:15) and left all the balloons unsuspectingly in the family room. I told the boys I had a big surprise waiting for them when we got home. I told them it wasn't edible (figured they needed that little clue). After the meeting, I picked up some dinner and then brought the boys home. When they rounded the corner of the family room, the oohs and aahhhs and squeals made it all worth the lack of oxygen to my brain today. They batted the balloons around for a while until I had to tear them away to eat dinner. After dinner they again played and were having a blast. And then I told them we were going to have a balloon popping party. At first, Spencer questioned this. But after the first couple balloons, he was in heaven. Carson wasn't scared one little bit. He laughed big belly laughs and kept saying "POP!" We had races to see who could pop balloons the fastest. It was awesome.
So it cured much today. It made me laugh. It made them laugh. And that was the goal. The boys asked when we get to do this again. We shall see.
And now I'm off to devour the yummy Edible Arrangement that a sweet friend sent to me. Chocolate and fruit. Mmmm. Thanks, dear friend!
4 comments:
What a great idea. I can definitely see how easy it would be to mope and mourn on Valentine's Day. I am impressed that you were able to instead focus on the little loves you have in your life and make it special for them! You are an inspiration to me.
You are a genius - which is proof that we're related. I am totally stealing this idea. Parenthetically, when I was a kid I thought Valentines Day was for us kids. Mom would make red and pink sweets and give us little gifts like stickers or silly putty. There's no reason for your kids not to think the same thing!
Love it.
I LOVE this idea. Spending time with the ones you love, having fun, laughing, living in the moment for that small moment of time. I need to do this with my kiddos soon!
I told some of my friends in Houston what you did and they all thought you were a genius. Such a creative, fun, perfect way to spend Valentine's Day.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.