Sharing the Love

Love was in the air on the Monday before Valentine's Day.  In the morning I was invited to Brennan's Sweetheart Sockhop at school (say that five times fast!), which was a dance for all of the four-year-old students and their mommies.  We were told to wear our fanciest socks so we could dance in them to the oldies. 

It was such a sweet, memorable time.  Brennan just oozed happiness at having me there to dance with him, and we both forgot about everyone else in the room as we "danced" to song after song (it was really more like swaying and jumping than dancing).  By the second or third song every child in the room had abandoned his or her mommy to dance with other kids, and the moms were all chatting with each other on the sidelines.  I kept telling Brennan he could go dance with other kids, but he just said, "No, I only want you, Mommy." 

We drank root beer floats (well, Brennan ate plain vanilla ice cream and I had a root beer float), and Brennan wanted to take a picture of me with mine. 

Brennan made me a corsage out of coffee filters that he brought to me when his class first arrived in the room.  Later, when I asked him how he made it, he said, "We painted them.  But I didn't get to pick my colors.  I had to use what they gave me."  I told him that I happened to love pink and purple.  He asked, "How much do you love them?" 

"A lot," I answered. 

He said, "No, show me!" 

So I stretched my arms out wide and said, "This much!" 

Then he responded with the sweetest words ever.  He said, "Wow!  That's a lot!  But that's not as much as I love you, Mommy." 

Such simple words made me feel like the most important mommy in the building.  It filled my heart and put a lump in my throat.

That same night we had a joint celebration for two couples in our community group who are expecting new babies.  Since they are both second children, one is a boy and one is a girl, and it was so close to Valentine's Day, I decided to tie in Valentine's Day and go with a simple "Baby Love" theme. 

All of the guests were asked to bring diapers and wipes for the families.  This kept the men from having to ooh and ah over onesies and hair bows, and it allowed guests to choose how much to spend on two different gifts without feeling weird.  Plus, I asked people not to put their names on the gifts, so the moms didn't have to write individual thank you notes.

We made the babies their first valentines, and there was a prize for the most creative ones.  The winner, our friend JP, actually disassembled a pen to make a pop-up card!!

We had a whoopie pie station with a sign that said, "Let's Make Whoopie! (Pies)"  It might be a little much for a church group, but if any group can handle it, it's ours.  Everyone seemed to get a real kick out of it.

 

I enjoy Valentine's Day more now as a mom than I ever did before I had kids.  There is something so special about paper hearts and polka dotted socks when you're a child, and there is something wonderful about letting everyone know how much you love them.  When you take away the romantic pressure and just focus on loving others and having fun, it's an awesome made-up holiday!  :-)

Did you do anything special for Valentine's Day?