It's more than fair to say I'm crafted-out for 2013!  Really, neither project was terribly time consuming.  Making the cards myself is a reflection of two things:  (1)  I procrastinated until Tuesday and I thought making them from scratch was a better alternative than going to WalMart and hoping they had something cute left, and (2) I hate it when someone has the same Valentines as my girls.  Weird?  Absolutely.  I have always had a little hang-up here and have always attempted to have something different for my girls to hand out than what everyone else had.  I also do not do cartoon characters -- on anything, not just Valentine cards.  So... years ago I could count on Target since we didn't have one close by.  No more.  I considered, albeit briefly, about doing the photo card thing.  Upload. Order. Pick up.  Easy peasy!  But, I think that's a little vain...maybe.  The idea isn't completely ruled out and may resurface at a later date.

 

Now, let's get to the funny.  Despite my neurosis about having the same card as someone else, I do not engage in sending a gift to my children at school.  I did this a few times when the big girls were little, but the thought that not every child has something delivered to them kills me. I get it at the middle school and high school levels because one might have an honest-to-goodness valentine at that point.  However, parents generally live with or can arrange to visit their kiddos anytime they like, so why do we need to send something to school?  Have a surprise for them in the morning if you like!  (I've done that.)  Surprise them with something after school.  (Done that, too.)  Or, and this is an idea that's even too radical for me, don't do anything and just let their party at school be their celebration.  My big girls understand the routine, and I remembered in the nick of time to explain this situation to Lilah before she got out of the car this morning.

 

Imagine how surprised we all were when Lilah got off the bus at my building this afternoon and announced she'd received a stuffed teddy bear from, get this, a SECRET ADMIRER!  She just knew it was me.  Nope.  I mean, the kid was excited.  Well, I looked a little more closely at this bear and then things began to fall into place.  "Lilah, were you the only one who got something from a secret admirer?"  "No!  X and Y did, too!"   (X is a sad situation and Lilah adores this child.) Things are adding up now.  She also said the card (lost along the way somewhere) said, "You are special to me and I love you."  Very sweet.  Are you figuring this out yet?  We have some very caring souls at our little school and they want to make sure every child receives a delivery.  Well, yours truly is probably labeled as the loser mom of all time because she didn't send her kid her own stuffed animal!  Wow.  I feel like I need to write a letter or even offer this photograph as proof that I did provide a nice Valentine's Day for my child!

 

 

 

 

 

I really wish, from the very bottom of my heart, that our elementary schools would just stop allowing the deliveries altogether.  Really.  Even if you send your child a gift, they might see one they would have rather had and just not be satisfied at all.  Some parents send outrageous things and I can't help but think there's just  a lot of showing off going on.  We'll show off on our merits!  We don't need a gift to do that ;) 

 

 

The other funny story will have to wait, but I'll just say my husband is doing better in this department and I love him for his effort.  Let me not leave you without a picture of the bear!  I'm thinking he's had another home before.  In fact, it may have belonged to one of our teacher's daughters who gathered up all their old stuffed animals and tied ribbons around them and dropped them off at the primary school for the very purpose of making a poor, neglected child's Valentine's Day.  :)