valentines from an almost 5 year old

The M household has made some creative Valentines over the past 3 years. We made a simple photo card for the “pre-candy” years. Then we dipped fortune cookies in chocolate and added sprinkles. Finally, we partially assembled some Olaf marshmallows.

In the past 2 years, Miss L has helped with the creation/assembly of the Valentine cards. After all, this stuff “is” supposed to all be for the kids, right?

But this year was different. After my eyes had glossed over from seeing ideas on Pinterest at the beginning of the month, I asked Miss L what kind of Valentines she’d like to share.

“I’m thinking I could draw hearts and cut them out and decorate them.”

“That sounds like a good idea!” I said cautiously, still trying to figure out how to capitalize on some crazy new love pun that hadn’t been used before…

Meanwhile, she was drawing a giant heart, coloring it with her markers and cutting it out with her prized kid scissors. Soon, a small pile began to accumulate on her drawing table. By the end of the weekend, I realized that these were truly going to be her Valentine’s Day cards.

And so… on the eve of the 12th of February, she still had 20 more “cards” to make. I offered her some scrapbook paper to alleviate the need to customize each one with markers… an offer which was carefully mulled over before being accepted. I explained the time crunch and that this would help get them all done. A minute passed before she conceded the fully artistic hearts for partially decorated ones.

And thus, she worked her magic creating 32 giant hearts to give to her friends, complete with her signature, a stamped lion and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sticker on the backside.

I’m going to mark this year as the one where Miss L took charge of her creativity and savor the moment. And I can’t wait to see her ideas for her first Kindergarten Valentines next February!