By Kevin D. Arnold Ph.D., ABPP

Little Valentines

When you have 54 Valentine’s Days under your belt, you become a little less interested in the chocolates, roses, and cards. The romance begins to erode as busy schedules and freeway back ups take their toll. I am convinced that a powerful antidote for the “been there, done that” flu is young children. Here are three ways to let your little ones spark your love on Valentine’s Day.

Inspired Ways to Celebrate

The Valentine’s Day cards and little candy hearts are a staple of Valentine’s Day. But….even children get bored with the same old patterns. Parents can spice up Valentine’s Day with a simple solution: Creativity. In our house, we make our own Valentine’s Day cards with glitter pens, stickers, and construction paper. But, painting the windows is much more fun! Oour children decorated an entire room of windows with Crayola Window Mega Markers. Our house became a giant Valentine’s Day box. Every parent can fall into the yearly rut of any holiday, but it’s more fun to live in a Valentine’s Day box.

Looking through Kids’ Eyes

To keep a fresh perspective on Valentine’s Day, try seeing things through your children’s eyes. While we celebrate the same holidays, year after year, a five year old sees things much differently. In their mind, Valentine’s Day is a wonderful and fresh experience. Children find candy hearts and foil-wrapped boxes curious and new. To rejoin the celebration of Valentine’s Day, consider how revolutionary ideas are, like heart-shaped candy, to young ones.

Valentine’s Day Dinner

Parents usually find childcare and go out for Valentine’s Day. We need those times, to keep the batteries charged. But we sometimes forget; our young children have two Valentines to celebrate with: mom and dad. We can find the joy of Valentine’s Day anew if we treat our little Valentines to a special dinner too. The food will be different, like heart-shaped pancakes or pink cupcakes. The idea is to ask your Valentines what they want for dinner, and don’t roll you eyes. Go with it, and have fun.

A Final Word from an Older Dad

Older parents can forget the newness of each holiday when experienced by a child. We can keep ourselves rejuvenated when we are infected by a child’s spirit. When we catch the “bug” of a child’s Valentine’s Day excitement, we recover from the hum-drum, “been there, done that” flu. It might just re-spark romance with your spouse, too.