Happy [HEART] Day!

Valentine's Day.  Probably second only to New Year's Eve for over-the-moon expectations, crowded restaurants, and inflated dinner fares.  When you're young, single, or perhaps both, there's even the added pressure of who will be your Valentine?  If you are really young , and hopefully single, there's the panic that the mean kid in class won't give you a Valentine and will make a big deal out of it.  (Unless you are the mean kid and you look forward to leaving kids off your heart-candy list.) But now that I'm married and not so young, it takes on a different meaning - it's another day with it's own to-do list.

Oh, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love to get a big ole' box of chocolate and enjoy a nice glass of wine in a white table-clothed restaurant with a strolling violin player.  I'd also be lying to myself if I thought any of that was going to happen on the sentimental holiday of love.  But it all happening on February 14 isn't as  big a deal as my wedding anniversary, which is nowhere near a holiday with jacked up flower prices.

As a family with kids, here's how we celebrate Valentine's Day.

• On the Saturday before the big day, the kids remind me there's a party at school and they need, all totaled, about 100 cards, lollipops, conversation hearts, and chocolates.
• Despite this reminder, I will get the surplus of red and pink doo-dads on the 12th, whatever day that is.  I will also be inspired by great ideas on Pinterest and be confident that I can get them done in time.
• We will spend the next 2 days frantically cutting out hearts and gluing stuff to them, making cute gift bags, and witty gift tags.  Even if I try to be lazy and buy the pre-packaged cute lollipops stuck on a card, just fill in your friends' names cards that could be done on the ride to school, my kids will still insist that they need more pizzazz!  My kitchen will be covered in pink and red scraps of construction paper.
• Valentine's Day also usually falls somewhere near Girl Scout cookie pick-up day, so while the heart workshop is going on in the kitchen, I'm counting and distributing 1200 boxes of cookies in the dining room. 
• Even though the kids will get almost as much candy as they do for Halloween in school, I will still pack a Valentine treat in their luncboxes because, hey, mom loves them, too.
• Enjoy Valentine's lunch with hubby - If hubby's schedule works out, we might get a nice Valentine's lunch.  It's so much less crowded than dinner and we don't have to negotiate a babysitter on a school night.
• Order dinner in for the family - something other than pizza (it is a holiday, after all) and save the work of cooking.  Although, it's really the clean-up that I don't like, but Valentine's on paper plates is just so not-fancy.  But at least we can drink that bottle of wine that would've been ridiculous at lunch.
• Try to control the consumption of candy.  The kids will attempt to eat all of the candy hearts, gummy hearts, chocolate hearts, marshmallow hearts, and cookie hearts that they acquired in school.  They will be bouncing off the walls and ceilings until way past their bedtimes.  Luckily, we don't have to drive home.  Pass the chocolate and the next bottle of wine.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hug somebody you love!