Valentine's Day - Who Knew?

OK so I guess I've been living under a rock for years because I didn't know that Valentine's day was such a major holiday.  Ric and I are more of a "get a babysitter & go for a good dinner" couple than heart candy & flowers.  That way there is no pressure on either to think of a gift plus we get a night away from the kids which means I get to eat a hot meal without multiple trips to the potty - nothing I can think of I want more!  We don't even do that on the actual day but wait until the next convenient weekend day that we can wrangle a babysitter and don't have to take a 10pm reservation because they have all been taken.  I actually spent more time thinking about Valentine's day this year than any time since I was 20 and I still didn't know how big it was out there.  I was one of the room mom's for Lucy's Valentines day party.  My co-mom and I managed to plan a party that included a snack, 3 games and a craft but only required about 15 minutes of prep and very few supplies.  We did fruit & chex mix in little cups and I made some Lucy-friendly cupcakes (store bought Duncan Hines mix with no eggs/milk in it made it with oil & applesauce - I little flat but still tasty with store bought strawberry icing whipped up).  We played "cupid says" (simon says - no supplies), "heart potato" (hot potato with a heart pillow, again no supplies except a pillow Lucy already had), and "knock, knock, who's your valentine" (a guessing game requiring only a blindfold).  For the craft I actually did venture in the scary place called Pintrest, searched cupcake paper craft and latched on to the first one I found.  It was super easy, used some of the stacks of cupcake holder I have plus some ribbon scraps a friend game me plus some paper cut outs.

Of course this was my sample - their version had glitter hearts in the center, green paper leaves instead of highlighter colored ones and  little clear "Love" sticker on it.   The kids seemed to like it.  I have to say for a non-craft person it went pretty darn easy.  Everyone had fun at Lucy's party even though we didn't spend hours getting ready for it.  The kids were a little sugar-wild and made me thankful to not a pre-school teacher but funny and cute too!

Sorry I got off my topic - so what got me wondering about the explosion of Valentines day was a trip to Cate's school early this morning.  Her school had "family breakfast" where you can go in at 7;15 and eat a lovely pre-packaged breakfast with a quartered orange and orange juice from a carton for $1.50.  Ric normally goes with her to these things since I've already been at work for a half hour but today he was sick and I didn't want him anywhere near a school lunchroom.  I couldn't stand the thought of her not having a parent there so since my very understanding boss let me come in late, I took her.  As we were sitting in the cafeteria munching, I watched parents & kids coming through the door with flowers, candy boxes, and tissue filled gift bags.  I assume all this was for the teachers.  I have to admit getting the teacher a present never entered my mind, like I said I don't even buy my husband one.  Now I did help the girls fill out their Hello Kitty and Disney Princess valentines to pass out to the classmates and teachers but that was the end of my thought process there.  Those little paper cards in a decorated shoebox is what I remember of valentines day.  That and my parents giving me a little heart shaped box of chocolates - a very minor affair in my early days.  Now it seems kids have bigger parties and give bigger gifts.  I feel kinda guilty I guess - hope my girls teachers don't feel like we don't appreciate them but who knew that valentines day was that opportunity???