February 14th is Valentines day. I’m posting this early so if you decide to celebrate it the way I do, you have time to prepare. It is a day to celebrate your love. I’ve heard single parents say before, “But I’m a single parent, note the word single. What do I have to celebrate.” Here is my response to that statement.
Yes, you are a single parent, note the word parent. You have the greatest love of all to celebrate. You have the love of a parent for a child to celebrate. Valentines day doesn’t have to be about romantic love, though that is what a lot of people look forward to, and what a lot of people expect, but you don’t have to. I express my love to my son multiple times on a daily basis. I do this by saying “I love you,” several times throughout the day, as well as giving my son several hugs and kisses through out the day, not to mention the pats on the back, the ruffles of the hair, the time I devote to just him and everything else that says “I love you.” Valentines day is special though. Valentines day is all about him and the love I have for him. So, how can you celebrate your love for your child/ren on Valentines day? Make the day about them.
This is what the day will be for us, and though it may change a little here and there, this is the basic plan. I will get up earlier than usual, go downstairs and make him breakfast in bed. What will this consist of? A pancake, a piece of French toast, a couple scrambled eggs, and a slice of fried ham with a small glass of milk and a small glass of orange juice. There will also be a Valentines day balloon attached to the tray. Only a dollar at the dollar store. Keep in mind that my son is not allowed to have food or drink upstairs, Valentines Day and his birthday are the only exceptions. Also keep in mind that once a month I cook up a batch of pancakes and a batch of French toast, and freeze them. All I have to do is pop one into each side of the toaster, and they warm up while I throw his eggs in the microwave. Yes, I scramble his eggs in the microwave, first it’s faster, and second, he doesn’t like it if they turn brown at all while cooking, so it’s a win-win. He’ll do his normal morning routine, and find some treats along the way. For example, he has a small drawer that he puts his tomorrow clothes in every night. This morning he will find a treat sitting on top of his clothes. Then we’ll go downstairs and do some school work, but he gets to pick what we are going to work on and how we will do that. I usually hunt for some really fun things for him to choose from.
Some examples would be, he loves doing experiments, he loves doing math with edible manipulatives, he loves doing any craft especially if it’s messy, and he loves maps. So I will have several experiments for him to choose from, several different manipulatives for him to pick and choose from, several crafts for him to choose from having him pick one particularly for Grandma (we will also have gone shopping prior to Valentines to pick out a card some candy and a present for Grandma), then I will have a treasure map for him to go on a treasure hunt, and find a present. After school work, we will have a lunch picnic, which will consist of whatever he picks out, probably a “turkey taco” (his favorite), which isn’t really a taco, but turkey lunch meat with shredded greens rolled up in a tortilla with ranch dressing.
After lunch we will play some games that he picks out, together. Since this day is all about him, it could be board games, video games, computer games, or games we made up on our own. Then we’ll watch a movie of his choice cuddled up on the couch. After the movie is time for dinner, again of his choosing. This could be anything from sloppy joes, to homemade meatballs (Swedish, in spaghetti, or porcupine balls) or we could just go out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Since we don’t go out to eat very often, this will probably be his choice. Then we’ll go to the movie theater to enjoy a new movie. He will probably get popcorn, gummy fruit and a slushie. After the movie he’ll be able to play a few of the video games they have in the arcade there.
After that we’ll probably drive 10 minutes to the next town over, and get some ice cream from Dairy Queen. After that, we will probably go home, lay in bed and watch some TV before going through the bedtime routine.