Valentine Nostalgia

When I was in elementary school Valentines Day was a day I looked forward to with anticipation.  Art time would be spent decorating pouches or boxes for our various red and pink cards.  There was the trip to the store to pick out just the right box mass produced cards to give to your friends (and non-friends).  Your teacher always gave you a list of student names and then you would spend forever pouring over the box of valentines to decide which one was just right for each person.  I would separate mine into piles, the pile that were cuter and sweeter would go to the girls I liked and the occasional boy I thought was cute.  The other pile would go to the snotty girls and the other boys.  They were filled out, put in envelopes and names put on them.  Then the day of the party would come.  Oh, we could barely stand it, the waiting. When our teacher gave the go-ahead we would walk around the room delivering our valentines to the lucky recipients.  After the delivery was completed we would get to open our mailboxes and read our mail, secretly searching to see if you got one from the current crush in your life.  Occasionally there would be a lollipop attached to the valentine which was super cool.  Homemade treats would be delivered to our desks by sweet room mothers and we thought it was the best day of the year. 

That was the extent of our parties.  Not something grand in scheme or sacrifice. Simple, sweet and what I would consider now, old-fashioned.

Let's fast forward 30 years......

In grades K-3 my girls have had parties for Valentines day.  After that, nothing.  Why?  It seems to be a combination of being "fair" to all students and teachers not wanting to bother with it.  Sad.

Luckily, Heidi had a cool teacher last year and she had a party in 4th grade.  This year, in her final year of elementary school I was not to be deterred from having my daughter experience one last youthful Valentines day. She was going to make some valentines and give them away, party or not.  So off to the craft store I went, gathering felt in the colors of love.  There are no class lists because that would be hindering student confidentiality. Nor will there will be store-bought treats (lest they be laced with poison) on Friday distributed by room parents. But Heidi will be handing out a valentine to the kids in her room.

  Heidi's home-made valentines

And I hope it brings a smile to their face like it did to mine 30 years ago.