Valentine Thoughts

As I've watched the grandchildren's anticipation of Valentine's 

arrival, memories of my own anticipation as a child their age has 

come to mind.  What is it that is so exciting about this day?  I'm not 

really sure, but I remember being so excited.  

I remember making Valentine Envelopes and decorating

them so classmates could place a Valentine inside.  Crepe paper,

construction paper, glue and sometimes glitter were used to

decorate the envelopes.  Sometimes we decorated shoe boxes at

home and took them to school.  

We also made Valentines at school for our families,

but those for friends and classmates were "store bought" and

only our names were signed on the back of the Valentine.  

Sometimes we'd find one from "guess who" or "Secret Admirer".

But, even more fun was taking Valentines around in the

evening to friends in the neighborhood.  What fun it was to

place the Valentine on the doorstep, knock on the door and run

so we wouldn't get caught.  I don't know if we signed our names

to those or not.

I still have several Valentines from friends in my scrapbook

and how different they are from the Valentines my grandchildren

send out now.  But, the excitement is still the same!

Making cutout cookies, decorating them, then taking them

to friends and neighbors was a special activity I shared with my

children and now I enjoy seeing them doing the same with their

little ones.  How much fun I had on Saturday making cookies

with Ian and sending them home with him to decorate with

his family.

A tradition we carried on for many years that Kerri is

carrying on with her children involved small boxes of

chocolates.  I would purchase inexpensive boxes of heart-shaped

chocolates and place them on their chairs so that when they

came to dinner in the evening and pulled out their chairs they 

would find the "hidden" chocolates .  It was probably rather silly to 

have them on their chairs and why I did that, I don't recall, but it came 

a tradition to find that simple little box on their chairs.   As the years 

passed, I inquired about doing away with them, but it was 

unanimous--keep the little heart-shaped box with the "cheap" 

chocolates.  And, so we did.