A Pandemic Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day isn’t high on my list of days to celebrate. I love date nights, though like many of us, this pandemic has left those basically nonexistent. Unless you count telecommuting together a date. But even life pre-pandemic, I never made Valentine’s Day some huge to-do for my husband and I. I always preferred to do a date night earlier or later in the month if we were going to have one because it helped to avoid crowds or needing reservations months in advance.

Maybe you think the day is just a Hallmark holiday. Perhaps it’s your absolute favorite day of the year. However you feel about it, one thing is likely true if you are a parent: your kids get excited about Valentine’s Day. This changes as they get older but you are likely in a stage or have experienced a stage where your kids get excited for things like classroom Valentine parties.

Following suit with many things in this pandemic, Valentine’s Day will look different this year. While it doesn’t make me sad as a wife given my husband and I never really make a big deal out of it; it makes me sad as a mom. My kids are in 2nd and 4th grades so still at the ages where things like classroom parties and exchanging of Valentines are exciting. In Washington State where we live, it’s now been over a year since the first case of COVID-19 hit and the schools have remained closed since March 5. Almost an entire year.

With no in-person learning, I have decided to make Valentine’s Day special for my kids this year since they won’t be getting any sort of in-person class celebration. Even schools that are open are likely not able to do any sort of elaborate celebration given physical distancing measures.

Here are a few ideas for how to make it a special day for your kids if they are missing out on an in-person celebration:

Decorate their desk area– My ten year old son wasn’t really into this idea but my seven year old daughter loved it. I picked up some decorations at the Dollar Store and let her decorate her desk so it could be festive for the whole month. They live on Zoom so her classmates and teacher got to see it as well.

Make Valentines– I find it a bit of a relief that I don’t have to buy/make Valentines for two classrooms of kids. But I know it bums my kids out. You can still buy/make Valentines but just in a much lower quantity and exchange as a family. My son opted to buy a box of 20 and thinks he is hilarious by making them out to household items. Surely the Xbox needs a Valentine card as well as the couch, the trampoline; you get the idea.

Exchange Valentines with Friends if possible– perhaps arrange to do a Valentine drop off with some neighbors so your kids can drop off cards and get some in exchange. Using safety protocols, of course.

Kid Pick– in our house we have “kids pick Fridays” where they get to choose what’s for dinner. Obviously it is really “mom doesn’t feel like cooking or even thinking about what’s for dinner” but they don’t know that. For Valentine’s Day, maybe the kids get to pick what’s for dinner, what game to play and what movie to watch.

Make it a Theme– Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday this year. While this puts more pressure on parents since the kids won’t even be occupied with class zooms, it’s also a chance to make it a themed day. Maybe go all out with heart pancakes for breakfast and leave little love notes around.

Little Gifts– if you want to purchase some little gifts for your kids or spouse, here are some cute budget friendly ideas

Fancy to go Dinner– here in Washington, restaurants are still closed for indoor dining. If you and your spouse usually do a fancy date night, you still have options; they just might look different. You can bundle up and dine outside with the patio heaters. Or you could get a fancy to-go dinner. Most fine dining restaurants have shifted to be able to provide amazing cuisine in a to-go style. Now, the task of convincing the kids to let you have some alone time.

We’d love to hear your ideas for this year’s celebration!