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Sunday
Feb142010

My little Valentine

For single people, Valentine's Day is often society's cruel way of shoving their singleness in their face. For couples, it is filled with expectations and pressure to spend money to prove how romantic you are. For those reasons, I've never been a big fan. But as a parent, it brings on new meaning. The spirit of Valentine's Day brought out the best in Julian and allowed me to see the very sweet and thoughtful side of him.

On Thursday, he brought home cards from some of the kids in his class and said he wanted to make cards for his friends. While I made dinner, I asked him to write all of their names down on a piece of paper so that we would be sure not to miss anyone (I know there are 18 kids in his class, but I don't know all their names). He did that and then after dinner we got out the paper, the scissors, and markers. On each card he wrote "To [name of friend]. From Julian". I thought that was it. But then he proceeded to turn the paper over and draw a picture for each and every one of them. A car for one boy, a princess for one girl, a ball for another girl, some lego blocks for another boy, a cat for another girl, and so on. He paused with each one to think about what they might like and even drew a bottle of wine for one friend, "because we're funny guys".

He made us a nice Valentine's card at school and while it was nice and sweet, I also know it was a class activity and not something of his own prompting. So I was bowled over when he came out of his room on Saturday with a song he had just written for me, without asking for any help spelling any of the words.







Translation for those not used to reading 5 year old:
La-la-la

La-la

XOXO

I love you

I play with you

I like you and you have love with me

These are the moments I live for as a parent. Most of the day I hear "I want..." and "Get me..." and "me me me", so it is so refreshing and rewarding to see evidence of the thoughtfulness developing inside of him.

What are the moments you live for as a parent? When have you been touched by your kids thoughtfulness? What makes your heart melt?
« Should we parent boys and girls differently? | Main | Olympic Time: Go Canada! »

Reader Comments (15)

Aww, that is so lovely!

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterHeather

What a great moment in time as a mom!
I take days like to day as chance to show my family how much I really love them. I made a special meal, and we all spend time around the table talking about what we love about each member of our family.
I really enjoy it.
The most recent bit of thoughtfulness though, came from my 4 1/2 yr old daughter who proclaimed that I needed to make sure to put bananas on the grocery list because I have recently gotten braces and bananas are soft and easy for me to eat.
=D

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered Commenterfaedemere

I remember back to being a kid and having some of the best Valentines "dates" with my mom. We would exchange cards and gifts and I always had a great time.
It was great practice for Now when I get to dote on my wife and with our first daughter on the way Iwe are looking forward to many great valentine memories like these! Thanks for sharing

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJavier Mendoza

How sweet :)
A., 4: "Papa, you make yummy food", "you are sweet", "I love you" (kisses my forearm)...
J., 2: can't talk yet but can still get his love across!

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSean

That is pretty awesome.
For me it is the small moments. If I wasn't watching for them I'd miss them. I always smile when I see the kids hug. That makes me happy.

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterCapital Mom

So precious! I also got great cards - Liam's was scribble (his writing is nowhere near as good as Julian's) but he translated it as: I love you so much I can't stop. And Maggie gave me a very artistic Valentine with a crossword puzzle of words like eternal love, mama, marvelous, etc. Definitely keepsakes. :)

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterElizabeth

Oh my goodness!! That is the best Valentine's EVER!!!!!

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterUpstatemomof3

Eldest not just saying Dadda, but walking ove rand hugging me and saying MY dadda
Youngest bursting into a smile and flapping his arms when he hears me coming, even though he can't see me yet

I hope mine send Valentine's this lovely at some point.

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterEwan

That just about tops the charts I think Annie. How sweet!

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMelodie

That is priceless. And it's a memory that's now captured in time because of your blog.

For my Valentine's Day, I had two 5-year-olds fall asleep on me while DH and I watched the Olympics. It wasn't one bit romantic, but it was perfect enough.

February 15, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterIronic Mom

It looks like you had a much better Valentine-making experience than I did. My daughter started out drawing lovely pictures, but lost interest after 10 or so. I don't really blame her, we had to make 27 cards for the other kids in her daycare, and that's just way too much for a not-quite-5-year-old. It DID make me feel a little bad for the kids who got the quick scribbles at the end, though.

What I really live for is seeing my kids enjoy each other. There's nothing better, for me, than seeing them play well or share affection. Priceless!

February 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterAmber

Those moments are so special. My little brother, aged three, sent me a Valentine card he'd made at nursery. It had a tissue heart stuck on a purple card base, and apparently he was offered the chance to give it to mummy but wanted to give it to me. Heart melting.

February 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterHandpicked Collection

Matt bought me a box of chocolates and said it was from Nolan :) he is 9 months, but he did snuggle me more than usual haha

February 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterSarcastica

We are still a long way from beautiful, thoughtful handmade Valentine's like yours, but my 11 month old is just starting to show love and affection in more recognizable ways. He gives kisses now when we all wake up together, granted they are more just him opening his mouth and pressing it against some portion of our body while making the "mwah" sound, but it still counts to me. And, while off exploring his world, he often crawls back to me just to check in and get/give a little snuggle. Totally makes me swoon!

February 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterDanielle

That made my heart smile. It doesn't get any better than that!

February 16, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterBrenna
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