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The Best Valentine's Gifts For Your Kids
Published 01.24.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (3)
Every Mother's Day I'd watch my mother open her cards and gifts from my siblings and me with small jolts of envy when she'd get candy. I'd ask, "When is it Kid's Day?"
She'd reply, "Every day is Kid's Day." Then she'd take a big bite of chocolate. As a kid, I obviously hated that answer. Except now that I'm a mother, it's true. Every day is Kid's Day.
Still every once in a while my parents would get us a little trinket or small box of candy for Valentine's Day and I loved it. It made me feel incredibly grown up and also a little special. I've decided although every day is Kid's Day and Valentine's Day is really a Greeting Card Store Holiday, to do something small each year to mark the day with my kids.
The ground rules when I'm thinking about how I'll mark the day with my kids are as follows.
No toys; my son's birthday is a month after and Christmas is always a little extravagant for my taste despite my best intentions.
No clutter-creating plastic pieces of garbage; I just don't have the patience for it cluttering up the house and it's a waste of money to buy any of it (since the thrill wears out for my kids about 10 minutes after arrival).
Nothing complicated: It has to be something easy or I will never do it and I certainly won't make a tradition out of it.
The keywords here are: small, meaningful, useful, edible and simple. They don't have to be all those things but this way of marking Valentine's Day with my kids has to be one of them. Here are a few ideas I've come across so far.
Cupcakes are always a fun treat and these Valentine's Day cupcakes mark the occasion with simple x's and o's. I'll be skipping the recipe, using a box and container of frosting, skipping right to the inspiring decorations.
Another idea is an individual cake, like this one made to look like a conversation heart. No special pan required just a sheet cake and heart shaped cookie cutter. You could of course make a delicious homemade cake with lovely frosting, but remember your audience. You could frost a tin can and my kids would eat it with joy.
Small kids would love to get a small package with homemade heart shaped crayons inside. These are so fun to make and can be customized with shaped muffin pans for many holidays. This is so easy and a great way to use up all those broken crayons....giving you an excuse to buy a whole new box of fresh crayons. There's nothing like that thrill for kids.
These printable Valentine's Day jokes would be fun to slip into your kid's lunchbox, maybe with a candy bar made special with a custom label (scroll to the very bottom of the page for the candy wrapper PDF).
My husband likes to buy our daughter a few small roses for Valentine's Day. He leaves them in a little vase on her dresser before he leaves for work in the morning so she wakes up to them. It's such a sweet tradition between the two of them it makes my heart ache just a little.
You may also like to read this:
The Easiest Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids
Kids' Valentine's Day Crafts and Ideas
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Melissa Summers was one of five Melissa's throughout her schooling, in her everyday life she is the only Melissa who folds laundry. The name Melissa is derived from the Greek word for Honeybee. The Buzz Off is published weekly on Tuesdays. She writes almost nearly everyday at Suburban Bliss.
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Comments (3):
Jenny said:
My Mom would always give us little gifts on Valentines Day and it always made the day more fun. We would get jewelry or gift certificates or something small like that. She would also make a Valentine's Day themed dinner that night with red table clothes, red paper plates and cups, and red punch. Always fun.
Another holiday idea that I always like to share is one for St. Patrick's Day. My little sisters had a visit from the leprechauns at pre-school one year. They 'messed' up the preschool room and left some candy. My mom used this for a couple of years for the girls and they loved it. Instead of messing up their bedroom, the leprechauns would clean up their bedroom and leave some chocolate candy coins on their pillow. My sisters loved this probably more than they loved the idea of Santa and it was a fun way to add a little magic for 4 and 5 year olds. It will definitely be something I do when I have kids.
Posted on January 24, 2008 12:31
Virginia said:
My father always gave each of us girls a small box of chocolates on Valentine's Day. My husband and I carry on this tradition with him giving each of our girls chocolates (usually a chocolate rose) and I give a small box of chocolates to my son. It's our way of sharing St. Valentine's love with everyone.
Posted on January 24, 2008 15:04
pnuts mama said:
we always do a red and white dinner (italian- easy) for each other, each year the other one takes the turn. since our daughter was born we just incorporated her into that. my husband gets her pink sweetheart roses and i love the idea of making the heart shaped crayons- awesome!
i also use boxed cupcake mix- vanilla with red food coloring (wilton gel not drops) to get a cool red with white frosting on top. thanks for the inspiration!!
Posted on January 29, 2008 16:56