Valentine's Day

Valentine's day. Sigh. I can't figure out how to write this post without coming off as a) snarky; b) needy; or c) super whiney. I'm betting it's going to come off as whiney but let's just agree that I know that from the beginning. OK?

Suffice it to say, the kids had a great time today and Peter and I celebrated Valentine's Day in the same manner that we will when we are 80.  I like Valentine's Day (like -not love, I don't expect huge things -it's still a minor holiday) almost as much as any other holiday and Peter couldn't care less - just like any other holiday. It's not necessarily a good mix.

Side note: The year Mr. T was born 3 days after Peter's birthday and Father's day fell on the same day, it worked out very well for me that Peter doesn't care about holidays. No way at 9 months pregnant was I able to muster a birthday and Father's Day celebration. And then I had his baby so I guess that counts as a late gift right?

Anyhoo...... I have been trying to tone down holidays around here (I know - opposite of what I first said right?), especially in terms of gift giving. So this year, we didn't get the kids any candy figuring (correctly) that they would come home from school with a bunch of it and instead of presents we surprised them with a trip to the book store and told them they could each pick out a book. They could not have been happier and although we did buy them something, it felt less difficult than us getting the presents ahead of time. Does that make sense?

Side note 2: The sweetest Valentine's presents of all were the kiddos. Mr. T came into my room at 6 this morning and whispered "I just want to say Happy Valentine's and give you a kiss" then he gave me a kiss and tip-toed back to his room. Heart melt right there. Then this morning, Miss E gave me a note she had written that said "Love is....mommy and daddy and theo and gegr (ginger) and samey (sammy) and reney (reenie)" I love her. And those two things right there made my day more than anything else could have. So please excuse the whining about not getting any chocolates.

Side note 3: Valentine's Day is the first holiday when I knew Peter was interested in me as more than a friend. We lived together (long story.....) but weren't dating yet and he bought me a box of candy hearts and put it in my bedroom. I cut out the little heart on the back where he wrote our names on the "to" and "from" lines and then under it wrote "have a nice afternoon". I still have that little heart. It was the sweetest thing ever and was part of what made me start looking at him as more than a friend.

Side note 4: On a different Valentine's Day, he bought about 20 boxes of the candy hearts, took all the white ones out, since those are the only ones I like, and made a new box of just white ones.