Family Ideas for Valentines Day

Valentines for the Whole Family
I used to be that Valentine’s Day was a day for couples, but some time in the last 10-20 years it has become as much a holiday for children and others important people in your life as it is for couples.
When I was a kid we had the normal Valentine’s Day party in school, moms brought in home made cookies and we made valentines and mailboxes for them to go into. Now you can hardly walk into a store from the Gas Station to the Biggest Store without seeing aisles of cheap trinkets for everyone in your life from your child’s teacher to your neighbor. Now there is nothing wrong with giving people who are important a token of our esteem, but since many of us did that barely two months ago, do we really have to do it again now in February?
Valentine’s is a big spending day. In the last two years the average person spent over $100 on Valentine’s Day merchandise, that is Stuff people, not a dinner out with your sweetheart.  By all estimates I would have to say my family has been guilty of that too. My husband and I would each by the kids a small token of our affection, usually I would send balloons or flowers or whatever the high school kids were doing for a fundraiser at school. The kids would end up with a stuffed animal. It was all so much stuff. Balloons and flowers fade or blow away.
This year instead of spending our $10-$15 per kid on a holiday that was not originally a kid holiday but rather a solemn day to commemorate a martyr we will be doing something with the kids. 
Some of the plans in the works are

• see a movie with the kids with a lunch out
• go to Incredible Pizza
• Go to the Zoo
• Make something at a Paint & Pottery Place
• Do something for a family less fortunate than us, buy them some gifts and deliver them
• Take socks and mittens to the Homeless Shelter

It is time we made Valentine’s Day less about buying trinkets and more about true LOVE. Valentine’s Day was started as a Christian Holiday to commemorate a martyr who against Roman Law married young Romans. He broke the law. Now we don’t need to break the law to celebrate Valentine’s Day but how about breaking with the new normal? 
How do you plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day with your family?

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