It Is Better To Give...

I can't think of the maxim 'It is better to give than to receive' without thinking of my little Evan one day at family night (when he was maybe four years old) trying to finish my prompt "It is better to give..."

I could see Kimball straining not to jump in because I had made it very clear I wanted Evan to answer.  After a moments pause, Evan ventured, "It is better to give than to steal."


Can't argue with that, I guess.


This Valentine's Day it was definitely better to give.  My heart is so full as I think of the lovely experience I had this year with preparation for today.


Just one day ago, I was not looking forward to the final preparations which included helping Isaac ready Valentines to give to his classmates.  This is always a grueling task that I swear I will start the week before so that Isaac doesn't get frustrated and so that I don't give up and just do the whole thing for him.  I mean--it is great, purposeful name writing practice and I have to take advantage of it, right?  Usually Isaac's weak little hands don't last that long, even with me writing all the children's names for him and having him just try to sign his name, but this year...HE WAS AWESOME!  He stuck with me through the whole thing, even insisting that we make additional Valentines for the kids and teachers in this special education class.  It was so much fun!

Usually he needed help with one or more letters each time he wrote his name.  On this one I only helped with the 'S': 

Impressed?  Me too.  But I almost danced with joy when I walked away to get the camera and came back to find this:

Isaac working with no prompting!   I suppose only his teachers and I can fully appreciate it.  But, take a look and the one valentine he signed all by himself:

Yes, the 'a' and 'c' could use some help, but check out that 's'!  I would venture to say that it is the first legible 's' he has ever written independently.  Oh, and subsequently, it is a little green manifestation of hope.  Hope that he will someday be able to master this mundane task that most school children accomplish a dozen times a day with almost no thought.

Keep up the good work, Isaac.  I know you can do it!

A Hallmark Holiday? I Think Not.

This is definitely my favorite Valentine's Day book.

It taught me to appreciate Valentine's Day just in time for me to teach my kids what that special day in mid-February is all about.


Honestly...I'd never been a fan.  For some reason I associated Valentine's Day with couples and romance only, and I really did think some genius at Hallmark must have made the whole thing up.  I worked at Hallmark at one point, and believe me that day was CRAZY!  I'd never have believed it, if I hadn't seen it myself.  I think I saw more guys in the store on that one day than the three previous months combined.  And, they all had this kind of sheepish/desperate look in their eyes.  It screamed, "Help me!  I have no idea what I'm doing here, but I know I'll be in trouble if I don't figure it out."  I felt bad because there was no time to really help them at that point, the store was literally packed, and we were running the registers as fast as we could trying to get them out the door in time for their big date.  Romantic?...No.


For those of you that may have never seen a Little Bill cartoon, he is a preschooler.  In this book, his awesome preschool teacher tells her class that Valentine's Day is your chance to tell all those people you love how you feel.  Little Bill has a lot of homemade Valentine's to give out.  His friends, cousin, parents, siblings, and Elephant, his hamster, all get one with a big smile to go along with it.


When I read this book to Kimball for the first time, I couldn't believe that I'd had such a narrow view of Valentine's Day. It definitely doesn't belonged to Hallmark or the romantics.  It is a sweet reminder to tell all those that bless our lives how we feel about them.

A sticky note on the mirror.  A wall post on fb.  A call.  A hug.  A heartfelt letter.  It doesn't matter.  It's a fun chance to think outside the box of chocolates and spread the love.