Valentine Table

One of my favorite days of the year is the day my kids make valentines.

I love the big, messy table full of pink and red.  I set up all their supplies (Dollar store to the rescue!): paper hearts, construction paper, stickers galore, markers, crayons, doilies, and glue.  After that, I just step back and let them create.

Already their art styles are so distinct that I don’t need to keep separate stacks of completed valentines to know whose is whose.   They come alive making their proofs of love, and each year they get better and better.

Yesterday I was touched by their kindness to one another, happily handing over the glue, passing the stickers, complimenting each other’s work.   The sweetest moment was Jack making Max’s valentine.  He consulted him on every step of the way, choosing his brother’s favorite stickers and designs, but once it was done he asked me to hide it so Max would be surprised.

When we were finishing up, Max commented to Jack about how lucky they were that I do so much work to make things nice for them.  My arthritic hands were stiff from all that cutting, but hearing him recognize my efforts made my pain evaporate.  This simple activity is one of the ways I teach my children values: we make beautiful things for people we love.  We don’t buy it.  We don’t expect it.  We find our resources inside our hearts.  And boy, did they.

Ah, my little mama heart melts.