Next Saturday is Valentine’s Day. Since having kids, the holiday has changed a bit. A romantic dinner has changed to a family dinner and Valentine cards now generally have glitter and Disney stickers. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate all kinds of love. This year, my husband and I have decided to help our kids realize how much they love each other. As most siblings can relate, our children are best friends and worst enemies at the same time. They’ll play so nicely together and stick up for each other. They’ll also hit each other and scream at each other. Our goal is to limit the screaming and hitting for a week or so. The best way to love someone more is to serve them. This is the method we plan to use this year.
Last week we purchased these rather adorable, plastic mailboxes from Target for $1 each. We added our names and decorated them with stickers. For some reason, my husband doesn’t think covering every inch with stickers is appealing. Weird.
Beginning Monday, we will do an act of service (big or small) for a member of the family. After, we’ll write what we did on a small piece of paper and put it in the mailbox. We’ll each do an act of service each day, leaving the description in the mailbox. We’ve already decided our kids will be responsible for serving each other and my husband and I will do the same for one another.
On Saturday night at dinner (we’ll be eating shrimp while the children indulge in macaroni and cheese), we’ll open our mailboxes and read the acts of service that blessed us throughout the week. I also plan to include a small piece of valentine candy in each mailbox, just because candy is fun. The goal is for all of us to grow closer through serving each other and recognize how blessed we are to have each other.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
