Hello and welcome to another toasty Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Just kidding! It's still ffffff-errrrrrr-eeeeeee-zzzzz-ing out here in Wannaska country. Today is February 13th.
Doesn't that date sound ominous? Maybe it's the alliteration that's got me. (Something the Third Grader is learning all about now.) So similarly resonant with Friday the 13th.
And, well, it is the day before Valentine's Day which is enough to strike fear in the hearts of anyone responsible for procuring the requisite tokens of affection for those in your life worthy of such expressions of love.
After twenty years of marriage, honestly, I'm thinking more about getting my kids' bases covered than my own. If you have elementary school-aged children, it all starts with the dreaded Valentine box.
Don't get me wrong. I love art. Really! And eventually, the boxes (usually) turn out super cute. But, you see - and, yes, I recognize this will sound like a totally dumb confession - because we rarely eat cereal, we don't have any cereal boxes, which are the usual go-to for reliable Valentine box architecture.
So, right out of the gate, stress begins to drip like hot water through a coffeemaker as I rummage through our collective crap in the garage for some other box that will do the trick. Fortunately, I can usually find Amazon boxes that will work. But beware! If the kids think they've got choices, they're liable to pick the ginormous box your teen son's winter boots came in.
I suspect that even teachers are getting savvy on the box issue. I've seen (and made) many a Valentine "box" and the cleverest design of them all has been the Ziploc bag plastered with Valentine stickers. Slap-and-dash and all done by the kiddos. Genius!
The first pang of anxiety strikes with the arrival of the teacher's note laying out all of the Valentine expectations. The first order of business: will my child have to make the box at home? *searches paper* Bless the good Lord, I've been saved this year. Boxes (in air quotes or otherwise) will be made at school fulfilling the objective called "Art."
Next up are the Valentine's Day cards. Now, who gets a Valentine is of little consequence at this age. It's simple: everyone in the class, plus the teacher, and the bus driver and the lunch staff, or the hall monitor - it really depends on how many you have left over - assuming they are store-bought valentines. Aaah. And therein lies the rub.
This is oddly where my art muse does kick in. For all my grousing about Valentine's Day, I actually have very fond memories of making valentines (during class) from my own childhood. It was the only time of year I got to enjoy the lace intricacy of white paper doilies and could relish the symmetry of a perfectly cut out heart. I'm not the craftiest gal, but goldarnit, there is something to be said for making one's own valentines! The act itself - cutting, coloring, gluing, painstakingly writing out one's 7-lettered name eighteen times - is love manifest!
For many years, this was the one time in the year (folks, I don't even do this for Halloween), I'd pull out construction paper, scissors, stickers, stamps, ink pads, glue - even glitter, for crying out loud - to get my kids in the mood of feeling - well, obviously not amorous (or lovey-dovey or mooshy-gooshy) but - grateful.
Love often feels for me like an expression of gratitude. "Thank you for being you." "I like who you are." "Sometimes I don't like you very much, but you're in my class, so here - a peace offering."
"Happy Valentine's Day."
Unfortunately, with as many years of parenting in my wake as I have - and still in the thick of elementary school years! - my passion for Valentine's Day has dimmed. Cooled. Like any love affair, these feelings morph and mature over time. I admit that I'm tempted by the shortcuts. In fact, I just paused typing this so I could text the hubs to remind him to buy valentines and treats for the kids' parties tomorrow. (The best ones are the treats that already have Valentine's wishes on them with space for kids to write their names.)
However, just when I thought I was ready to give myself a pass this year, something truly love-inspiring happened.
With no urging on my part, the Third Grader gathered up paper, envelopes, stickers, markers, the lollipops dad had bought (no store-bought wishes in sight despite the text), rallied her little brother, and retreated to their shared bedroom. From the hallway, we listened to the sounds of industrious kid-bustling behind the closed door.
Do you know what cooperation sounds like? Whispers of paper folding, quiet scissor snips, the squeak of markers, low murmurs, all encapsulated in a sense of peace.
An hour later, both kids emerged from their room with satisfied grins, like surgeons coming away from a successful operation.
💝
On This Day
Remembering You
Kim
Kimberly? That eight letters. You said 7.
ReplyDeleteCouldn’t you have shortened your name to three letters for the sake of efficiency?
And if you don’t eat cereal, what do you have in the morning? I read breakfast is the most important meal of the day in the Czech Republic. Do you bake kolache, buchty, bublanina, and babovka to go with the cheese and salami? Do all the kids have coffee. Just curious.
LOL! I was thinking of the Kindergartener who has 7 letters. The poor kid! I told him he can just write an "A" and call it good. Breakfast at our house can look like a few different things: oatmeal, melted cheese on bread (we call this "gooey sandvahzh"), fruit, fried eggs, English muffins, bagels, or sometimes "egg muffins" that slaps all that egg, cheese, English muffin goodness together. I've even been known to make homemade granola. The youngest three kids LOVE when I make "coffee" which has generous splashes of milk and sugar or honey. ;)
DeleteP.S. Buchta for dinner and leftovers for breakfast. ;) Bublanina! Now that's something I haven't made in awhile and I even have a new recipe for it. Kolache - uffda! That's a lot of work! LOL!
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