When I was a child, my dad created the Valentine's Squirrel. His thinking was that if Easter had a bunny, shouldn't Valentine's Day have an animal too. So our little boxes of chocolate and cute stuffed animals holding hearts were delivered by the Valentine's Squirrel. For awhile I was greatly perplexed as to why the Valentine's Squirrel didn't visit my friends. Apparently only my sister and I were favored by this particular holiday creature--and that's what made it so special.
As I grew older, gifts from the Valentine's Squirrel became more keepsake in nature. I still treasure two music boxes that my dad gave me in my teenage years. Both of the music boxes are made of light blue ceramic and one has a beautiful illustration of a little girl by Maud Humphrey. My daughters now sneak into my bedroom to play the music from those boxes and they've come to love them as much as I do. There are times I panic--afraid that they might break them. But they are very careful with the music boxes and there is something so charming about little girls playing with music boxes on their mother's dresser. It is important to me that they have special memories of these gifts that hold such memories for me. So I remind them to be careful and I let them play.
Valentine's Day can be ridiculously commercial. But it is also an opportunity to make memories. On Valentine's Day, I will make heart pancakes for my kids because that is what my mom did for me. My kids will receive little boxes of chocolate from the Valentine's Squirrel because that was part of my childhood. While we don't necessarily need a special day to tell those close to us that we love them, it is nice to have that special day so we remember to do it.
As I grew older, gifts from the Valentine's Squirrel became more keepsake in nature. I still treasure two music boxes that my dad gave me in my teenage years. Both of the music boxes are made of light blue ceramic and one has a beautiful illustration of a little girl by Maud Humphrey. My daughters now sneak into my bedroom to play the music from those boxes and they've come to love them as much as I do. There are times I panic--afraid that they might break them. But they are very careful with the music boxes and there is something so charming about little girls playing with music boxes on their mother's dresser. It is important to me that they have special memories of these gifts that hold such memories for me. So I remind them to be careful and I let them play.
Valentine's Day can be ridiculously commercial. But it is also an opportunity to make memories. On Valentine's Day, I will make heart pancakes for my kids because that is what my mom did for me. My kids will receive little boxes of chocolate from the Valentine's Squirrel because that was part of my childhood. While we don't necessarily need a special day to tell those close to us that we love them, it is nice to have that special day so we remember to do it.
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