Seize the Holiday

Written by Susan Ragsdale

Valentine’s Day is such a great opportunity to build family relationships. Here are some things you can do so that the whole family feels the love:

· Make your own valentines. Make hearts out of two red thumb prints angled together. Place on paper (or ceramic tiles if you want to keep an art piece), add sentiments and presto! The perfect valentine for “thumb-body” special. And don’t forget to make some for others you may take for granted – make valentines for school kitchen staff, the mailman or the elderly neighbor, and so on.

· Share the love outside your family. Volunteer together and serve in the community. Start pre-Valentine’s Day by decorating a box and having the whole family fill it with ideas for loving other people (you’ll probably have to remind them to put in ideas). A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, pull out all the ideas and determine a way that your family can share love with others in the community. (Need inspiration? Read Berenstain Bears’ Think of Those in Need by Stan and Jan Berenstain to see how one mom opened the world up to her children and how they could help others.)

· Have a dinner and movie night. Eat pizza while watching fun, kid-friendly love stories like Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Shrek, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp, Cars, The Lion King, or The Princess Bride.

· OR make it a dinner and book night. Suggestions: Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine by Marjorie Sharmat, Queen of Hearts by Mary Engelbreit or Olive, My Love by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh.

· Tell bedtime love stories. Flip through your wedding album or family and baby pictures while telling favorite family love stories. (Suggestions: tell your children about how you and your spouse met, tell the story of their birth, favorite family moments, how grandma and grandpa fell in love.)

· Have friends over for a pancake breakfast. Make heart-shaped pancakes using a metal cookie cutter. Serve with raspberry or strawberry preserves and a dollop of whipped cream.

· Get creative – make valentine t-shirts with paints or draw hearts and fill in with words and pictures that represent things that each is proud of themselves, each other and the whole family.

· Get sneaky – put mini love notes in each other’s pockets, lunchboxes or on their pillows during the week. On each note, share a specific trait you admire about that person such as, “Your hugs every night make my day,” “I love your ready smile,” or “Thank you for your helpful spirit.” Fill lunchboxes or create meals with extra flair – sandwiches cut into heart shapes, fruit with a heart drawn on top, heart shaped napkins or placemats with personal messages written on each one.

Whatever you do, seize the moment to show attention, love and care for those around you. Don’t miss the opportunity to say you care.