Feel the Love

Happy Valentines Day! This holiday typically passes for Scott and I without a lot of hoopla. I agree to not get him anything and he agrees to not get me anything. We are pretty good at sticking to this - for the most part. Besides, shouldn't every day be a display of love to those we care about. But with Ella, all holidays are a big deal, and this one is no exception.

Yesterday, Ella had a Valentine's party at preschool. When we received the note explaining the details of the party and what Ella needed to bring, I became reflective about my own Valentine's parties in grade school. They are all pretty much the same. A few days before Valentine's we were asked to bring a shoe box to school. Then, for art, we would cover it in red or pink paper and either color it or place stickers on it. And, of course, we made sure to cut a slit in top of the lid so it would be easy for our adoring fans to drop in their notes of love and affection. At home, we would go to the store to pick out just the right cards - Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and Hello Kitty were big hits - and a big bag of conversation hearts (if you had a really nice mom). A lot of thought went into deciding which saying on the card would go to what person. You had to make sure you weren't sending the wrong message. Dido for the conversation hearts. And then you would carefully place the card and hearts in a small white envelope, lick it closed (those things never stayed sealed), and put it in a sack, anxiously awaiting the big day.

The party was pretty simple. Someone's mom was assigned to be the homeroom mother and she always brought treats, usually cupcakes and juice. And then we would get the chance to go around the room and put our valentines in everyone's box. This makes me chuckle because we never seemed to get the opening in the lid wide enough to get those candy hearts to go through without a little (or alot) of shoving. And then we got to take our box filled with love home to read about how cool we were to everyone else in the class. If you had a lot of cards with those little hearts inside, you were on top of the world.

Ok, now jump forward 25 years. It's no longer a box, it's now a brown paper bag with a very large opening at the top. Ella decorated hers with a big doile heart and puffy valentine stick-ons. Apparently stickers and crayons are so last decade! :-) Ha! Ha! It's no longer one or two mothers that sign-up for party duties, it's every mother and some fathers! Cookies and juice are now apples, oranges, bananas, bagels with shmear, cupcakes, mini muffins, and fruit rollups. The party is not just getting to pass out your valentines, it's getting your fingernails painted, playing with red shaving cream, decorating valentine cookies, etc. etc. And the cards with little white envelopes and conversation hearts - NOPE! The cards now fold in half with cute little stickers to seal the ends together and the conversation hearts have been replaced by big heart boxes full of chocolate! When I saw Ella's bag I thought she had gone trick-or-treating!

It's all good though. Ella had a great time picking out her Mickey Mouse cards and suckers. And she signed her own name on them until her little hand became to tired (after about 8 cards). She dressed up in her red heart shirt and could hardly contain her excitement as she moved from one activity to the next. She dumped her bag out as soon as she got home and loudly called out who was on each card. And it warmed my heart when she called out Strawberry Shortcake (welcome back little redhead!) It was impossible to not feel the love!