1  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

With Valentine's Day a little more than a week away, my husband and I are starting to plan out how we're going to celebrate. This was so much easier when we didn't have kids. Back then one of us could plan something elaborate, either at home or whisking the other person out for dinner or a night away. And forget being spontaneous - kids seem to find a way to pull a lot of the spontaneity out of your life. Now we have to call ahead of time to plan babysitting, tracking down single relatives and friends to beg for a night out.

But it's not like we want to exclude our daughters from Valentine's Day. Cordy is already being indoctrinated in preschool this week with an emphasis on big red hearts and flowers. I wasn't sure if her teacher was going to discuss it, but then Cordy came home today with a backpack filled with hearts she had cut out, and little papers with crayon rubbings of a heart. The booklist this week is filled with stories of love and kindness. I'm expecting her to ask about picking out Little Einsteins Valentine's Day cards any time now.

We will probably buy both girls small gifts and share some of our chocolates. And I may be up late on the 13th putting finishing touches on Cordy's cards so she can give them to her friends. I know both girls can expect cards from their grandma and great-grandma - my family always sends out Valentine's cards to the kids. We'll have a fun dinner with our kids (we'll eat lightly), and then quickly slip away when the babysitter gets there.

I'm not sure what we will do once we're free, but a dinner that doesn't involve PB&J or mac & cheese or anything with '&' in it would probably be a good start. Someplace without a kids' menu, too. A restaurant with a good wine selection and a quiet atmosphere would be nice, where we can enjoy a conversation that doesn't revolve around Dora and a meal where someone will refill my drink instead of me refilling sippy cups.

I used to roll my eyes at Valentine's Day, considering it a fake holiday. I don't expect my husband to go out of his way to buy me expensive things or prove his love to me in some difficult way just because it's February 14. Instead, Valentine's Day is a reminder for me to remember that I'm more than a mom, and is a day I can guarantee that I can step out of that mom role for a few hours to focus on being a woman, a wife, and a friend.

My relationship with my husband is the foundation of our family, and far too often that relationship gets pushed behind the needs and wants of our two little girls. We get caught up in the day-to-day, occasionally snipping at each other, too tired at the end of a long day to even sit on the couch together for a few moments. After awhile, we start to feel distant. This can be the start of trouble for many marriages, but we try to watch for these moments, planning date nights or making time for each other in some other way to reconnect. Valentine's Day is one of those set-in-stone date nights where we can remember why we wanted to be a family to begin with.

If one little holiday can serve as a periodic reminder to give our relationship the time and nurturing it needs, then I'm all in favor of celebrating Valentine's Day.