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Valentine’s Day is filled with great traditions: picking through a box of chocolate, honoring Forrest Gump by guessing which tiny brown rectangle is hiding caramel and not the dreaded coconut, rooting through conversation hearts trying to remember which colors don’t taste like chalk and of course, justifying eating baked goods literally all day because they are heart shaped and it’s a holiday. Did we say traditions? Sorry, we may have just meant sugar, delicious, delicious sugar, but traditions aren’t a bad idea either. Starting annual Valentine traditions that won’t require an emergency trip to the dentist or incite the kiddos to bounce off the walls in a sugar induced frenzy is a lovely way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Even if we spent our youth rolling our eyes at all the heart shaped doilies reminding everyone we were too cool to celebrate Valentine’s because “it’s a holiday manufactured by a greeting card company,” it’s hard not to swoon over a fun, new family tradition that makes the whole family giggle. (Please note: angsty teens and tweens alike may try that corporate holiday nonsense, give them the previously mentioned heart shaped baked goods until their mouths are too full to complain.)
Valentine’s traditions that everyone will love don’t need to revolve around sugary treats, despite what we said earlier. There are many fun, family traditions to start this year that will have the kiddos reminiscing about as treasured childhood memories when they are grown with their own children one day, wowed by how their parents were able to do it all, conveniently forgetting all the frazzled and yell-y parts. Valentine’s Day traditions also don’t need to be super labor intensive, either. It doesn’t have to be a complicated 3 hour scavenger hunt complete with a 3D papier mache Cupid, but it also could be for all those intrepid crafters out there. Starting a Valentine’s Day tradition can be as simple as watching A Charlie Brown Valentine every year while eating heart shaped pretzels and voila one of the littles favorite childhood memories has just been born. (Don’t worry, we meant the type of heart shaped pretzels from the store, no one is advocating baking pretzels from scratch, no offense to those the 3D papier mache Cupid over achiever-type people). These Valentine’s Day traditions run the gamut from sharing storybooks to festive jammies, so every family can find a new Valentine’s tradition they love as much as they love each other. Awwwwww.
