Like many of you, I am busy planning for Valentines Day, and making lists of what I need to buy or make for the kid’s parties at school, picking out the perfect cards and gifts for my “sweethearts” (plural because I consider not only my husband but also my kids worthy of the title Valentines). As I am sitting here making my plans, I ran across this simple, yet perfect way to express how I feel about my husband and kids. So, instead of writing about a cute, delicious recipe or how to make an impressive Valentines Day party decoration, today I thought I would slow it down for a minute and share this with you.
Here’s my plan. On Valentines Day Eve (making that name up as I go), I will go to bed later than the rest of my family. I will set the table as shown in this picture. The best part about this is that I won’t need to buy a single thing. I have white dinner plates and lots of silverware. I don’t have a red table cloth but I do have red construction paper that I will use for place mats. For the heart decoration in the center of each plate, I will simply use some of that red construction paper and spend some time making an old fashioned hand made heart shaped Valentines, like we used to do in school.
I can’t think of a better way to start the morning on Valentines Day than to serve my family breakfast with the table decorated in this love-ly way. We will still be rushing around getting ready for school and work so I’ll have to be a bit more organized to pull this off but I am going to do it. Why? Because I know how much I would appreciate this simple gesture if it were done for me and I want my family to know that I really do appreciate them. And it’s fun. And it’s free. And, most importantly, it’s from the heart and they will feel that.
Will I be able to pull this off and have our morning go smoothly enough to have this go exactly the way I want to? Probably not. School mornings rarely go as smoothly as I would like. But that’s okay. Somebody will have something that needs a last minute signature, somebody else won’t be able to find a shoe, the list of last minute glitches is endless…..but for one moment we will all be seated together in front of one simple word that sums up why we do what we do for each other — love. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
I encourage you to give this a try this Valentines Day. I have a feeling that this will be a new Valentines Day tradition for my family. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that something I do for my kids matters enough that they want me to repeat it each year. Those are the traditions that I treasure – the ones that my husband and I start with our kids. I’m getting a little sentimental thinking that maybe, if I am lucky, my kids will do this for their kids one day. How love-ly would that be?
Lori is a content writer for Discount Party Supplies. She is married with three kids and hosts many family gatherings and parties. In her free time, Lori enjoys taking yoga classes and in her secret life she likes going to heavy metal concerts (but don’t tell the other soccer moms!).
