Today on the inevitable facebook, a friend commented: Setting aside a single day of the year for love is like setting aside a single hour of the day for breathing.
Okay. But setting aside a single day of the year to receive and give small tokens of love from/to friends and especially children is marvelous! I bought into V-day more than usual this year. It didn't hurt that two evenings ago, my beautiful 6-year-old son presented me with a hand-strung bead necklace replete with red hearts, ladybugs and TWO rainbow beads that he had made. And it was all his idea, no less. Oh, the mama's heart went "thump thump" and the tears flowed. The next day while chasing Cora around during Isaac's tae kwon do class, I was inspired to enter the Dollar Store and purchase 3 heart-balloons-on-sticks and 5 long-stem roses (two for Isaac's teachers). On V-day itself, Isaac surprised me as I returned from my jog by appearing in the dining room fully dressed to the shoes...and I surprised him with heart-shaped English muffins with ham and poached eggs. Wheee! And THEN, I surprised the whole family with decadent desserts a la the special goodie case at Earth Fare ('cause I just happened to be there today and walk past). And this year, we actually had completed valentines for him to take for his classmates. The last two years, completion has been a bust.
So anyway. I still don't like the commercialism aspect. I don't like spongebob valentines (though we definitely used some for his class--can't remember why I had those, but I think I've had them since before Isaac was born). I don't like Whitman's candy (anymore), and I don't like feeling obligated (or having Matthew feel obligated) to provide love-y gifts to "honor" the day, or the idea that there's one day designated for love. But I do enjoy the token gifts, the ritual, the celebration of pink, and crazy yummy desserts composed of chocolate and fruit. So there.
Thankful for:
* Cora hustling around the corner, looking from behind every bit of Mamaw Peck acting goofy.
* Cora saying "hnuse me" when trying to go around me.
* Isaac having a day of no tantrums!
* Isaac's new "Isaac is helpful chart." This thing saw a miracle today. Not sure what is cause or effect, but we'll leave that for now.
* A morning of errands with my sweet little girl.
* My hardworking hubby.
* eggrolls with no eggs
* a movie night.
