Valentine's Day--His and Hers

If you were a little girl, your mom likely bought you a new outfit on Valentine's Day--either cute--a dog and cat pictured inside a heart--or fab--a tutu dress with leggings and shiny shoes. You passed out princess cards and cut out pink hearts to give to your mother.


On the other hand, if you were a little boy yesterday, you probably woke up wearing whatever red happened to be on your Chiefs sweatshirt--if any at all. You passed out Valentines that featured Transformers saying messages ranging from semi-threatening to whole-heartedly boastful:

"I have been looking for you, Valentine."

or

"I am the greatest Valentine in the universe."


At Richie's school, I am a room mother. Having three boys, I have become even dumber at Valentine's Day crafts than I already was. The other room mom showed me how to do the craft, but somehow I totally misunderstood and folded a bunch of paper that was supposed to be scalloped-edged hearts. The girls' table made do, gluing cute conversation hearts and cotton balls to the cards. The boys table, on the other hand, randomly cut their paper into small, crooked squares and ate the hearts.

Richie had already made Justin and I two heart-shaped Valentine at school. He colored them both as black as coal.

Johnny made me a card Tuesday night.

"What do you want it to say?" he asked.

"Say whatever is in your heart," I said.

"I can't think of anything," he said.

Then, he said, "Would it be nice to say, 'You are special to me'?"

"That would be very nice," I said.

It was touching, actually.

Then he made a card for Justin that said the exact same thing. And about 10 more cards that said it, too.

I guess it's his go-to message.

At school, the teachers have handing out Valentine cards down to a science. The kids sign their names but don't write their classmates names. In the "To:" section, they can write, "My friend" or leave it blank. The bags are lined up, and the kids drop their cards inside in an orderly fashion.


Johnny handed out 3D bug cards and Richie gave Spiderman cards.

Coming home from school, Richie handed me a small card with the Disney princesses--Belle, Cindarella and Ariel--on it. Inside, there were little pieces of candy.

"Here, mom," he said proudly. "I got you a present."

"I love it," I said.

He knew I would.

Whenever the boys see ads for Bratz dolls or My Pretty Pony, they say, "Mom, you would like that."

They probably think I'm deprived since I don't have a single doll.

Well, Richie saw his chance to rectify this situation.

I hugged him for being so thoughtful.

Then I turned over the card. It said, "To: My Friend. From: Zoe."

Some of the decorum might be lost on boys on Valentine's Day, but at least the sentiment isn't.