Sure, we could just buy Valentines at the store and then write names on them, but where’s the fun in that?! My mother taught me better. For Valentine’s Day, one must hand make and personalize cards for all classmates, relatives, and minor acquaintances, and no two can be the same. Scissors! Glue! Tape! Glitter! Stickers! Construction Paper! Crayons! Fun!
Of course, with all that being said, we should have started in December. Last year, Ruby made the Valentine for her best friend first. It was nine feet tall, seventeen feet wide, contained six pounds of glitter glue, and took her five days to make. We told her that she had to cut back on her endeavors, so her next Valentine took two days, which brought us to Valentine’s Day Eve, when her mother started folding paper at the speed of light, slapping a sticker and a name on each one and telling Ruby to sign them, or else. I hope those 22 kids did not see the other two Mega-Valentines that came in.
That’s why I started early this year. Edward and I spent several days making cards, since he is in school now and a part of the massive Valentine’s Day machine, and he really enjoying using the scissors and drawing “E”s on everything. It took some doing (threatening), but we managed to get all of his cards done on time, which left only his sister’s cards. She spent an entire evening just cutting out shapes, and when I asked her how many Valentines she had finished, she just gave me a look that told me I was an idiot for even asking such a ridiculous question.
“Dad!” she said in annoyance. “I only cut out hearts today! Tomorrow I will start drawing and writing names. Then I will do the decorating. I won’t have even ONE done for four days at least!”
I see. Hmmm. Okay. Well, how about you get half done today, and half done tomorrow, since it is Wednesday, and Valentine’s Day is on Friday?! How about I see some completed Valentines on the table, starting right now?! Move it, move it, move it!!!
Ah, love. Celebrating it properly takes a lot of hard work and shouting.
I am happy to say that Ruby did indeed finish half of her cards, and then God sent us a miracle blizzard and school was cancelled. So now she has all weekend to finish the other half, which means my table will look like this for another three days.
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!