"Valentimes"

We loves us a good "Valentimes" day.......that's how all of my kids used to say it.

I helped Laila put together a Valentine box for her school party.
She is making one at school, but still wants to make her own, so it's not like everyone else's.   Laila picked out Harry Potter valentine cards to give away this year.  She thinks the boys and the girls will like these cards, because EVERYONE loves Harry Potter.
 Her candy of choice is Jolly Ranchers.  "They really last-- and no stick to worry about like a sucker."
Laila is picking out just the right card and sticker for each kid in her class, (and candy flavor).

 She doesn't want to send any thing too mushy to the boy she has a crush on....and she doesn't want to send the wrong signals to the boys she doesn't like.

 It's all very complicated.

I remember these same issues when I was in Elementary school.

We had very few candy choices to include with our cards. 

  Conversation Hearts.....that was it.

I checked and rechecked the tiny pastel hearts, to make sure they said just the right thing....knowing this was a way I could get my message across without appearing too bold.

"Be Mine"

                  "#1 fan"

                                    "Hug Me"

I couldn't give the "True Love" heart,  or the "Let's Kiss"  ......only the " like " ones......but then only to girls, because if a boy got that, he might really believe it, and then where would I be?

                              I  had crushes on a lot of different little boys back then.
I remember getting a Valentine that was Humpty Dumpty falling off a wall that said...."I have fallen for you Valentine."
 I knew this was a declaration of true  elementary school love and I saved this under my pillow for weeks.  I read and re-read it.....then one day walking home from school, this crush made fun of me and my sister. He even threw snow balls at us.
We immediately tackled him and told him to "shut up"....and that was the end of that love affair.

I recall  one Valentine day getting a box of orange sticks from my 5th grade crush and hid them, embarrassed, from my little brother.  I didn't want to be teased.   I ate a few of these and threw the rest away....."how dare he give me such an outrageous declaration of love?"  Obviously he was not the boy for me.  The crush was crushed.  I  avoided eye contact for the rest of the school year.

It's a good thing I met my Wayne when I was 15-- since then, all of my Valentines  have been filled with flowers, poetry and love..................
ahhhhhhhhh.... oh,....... and chocolate!!!!