Valentine’s Family Traditions

One of the premises of Richard and Linda Eyre’s book on not raising entitled children is that our children need to derive a strong sense of identity from their family unit. We want to make them love home so much that it seeps into their identities and gives them confidence in who they are. Lasting family traditions are one of the best places to start. I want our family to be bursting with traditions, and the fun thing about having young kids is that with each holiday, we get to try a bunch out and see what sticks!

Here are the traditions we’re trying out this year to celebrate the holiday of L-O-V-E as a family!

To Make:

1. Painted Valentine’s Rocks (pictured above). We had so much fun making these! Although I think the boys’ favorite part was actually using the blow dryer to dry them . . . 🙂 Just collect some rocks, or buy them at the craft store like I did, and paint with acrylic paint! We have ours on a cake platter surrounding tealights. Such a fun valentine’s centerpiece!

2. Heart-shaped window clings. Not pictured, because they’re still drying! But hop over here for instructions on making modge podge window clings.

To Eat:

1. Heart-shaped pizza. It’s awesome that something as simple as switching the shape of your pizza can make your kids so excited!

2. Heart-shaped rice krispie treats, which we also turned lightly pink and added sprinkles to.

3. Pink breakfast! Not pictured, because I’m not serving it until the day of Valentine’s!

To Do:

1. My boys’ faces light up whenever I tell them we’re going to have a “fancy dinner,” even if it’s just a random Tuesday with no holiday associated. Last week, we ate one dinner by candlelight and even enjoyed an appearance by our newly painted love rocks!

2. For family night tonight (which we try to do every Monday night) the week of Valentine’s, we’re going to play the “Who-Do-You-Love Game,” where you sit in a circle and ask one person “Who do you love?” When they answer with, say, “I love everyone with blue eyes,” everyone with blue eyes scrambles for a new seat. (For older kids or a larger group, you can take away a chair each round to make it a little more interesting!)

3. As I’m sure many of you already do, we like to take neighbors or an elderly friend something special around Valentine’s. It’s a great chance to remind growing kids that Valentine’s is about celebrating all kinds of love (not just romantic) and that service is an essential part of love. This year, we took some heart-shaped rice krispie treats to our elderly friend in a care facility. (It warms my heart when my boys hug that woman!)

4. The last one, I’m saving for later, when our kids are a bit older and more interested. Love/appreciation notes that your children get to wake up to February 1 – 14. Check it out here.

These activities have really brightened up our February, which can otherwise be a pretty dismal winter month! I hope you read a couple of ideas that you can try this week. You have four days to make some Valentine’s magic!