When Preschool Changed Valentine's Day

This morning I entered the office and wished the judge's assistant a happy Valentine's day. I asked her if she had any plans. She replied, "Nah. It's a made-up holiday." Then my supervisor came in, and I wished him a happy Valentine's day. He said, "Ah. It's a made-up holiday." They have a point. As my mother used to say regarding Mother's day, "I don't like it when people are forced to do something for me that they should be doing every day." (It's amazing she says it with such composure after eight kids). In reality, Valentine's day changes over time. When I was dating someone, I always made an extra effort to do something sweet on Valentine's day. When my wife and I were first married, we didn't really need Valentine's day because we were mushy all the time. Then kids came along, and we were too poor to do anything for Valentine's day anyway. But preschool breathed new life into Valentine's day. Our four-year old son became so excited about Valentine's day as he learned about it in preschool. Now, after several years of letting Valentine's day more or less go by, we all wore red or pink (just a heart-designed tie for me), and we had heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch, and heart-shaped pizza for dinner (by candle light, of course). My wife got them stuffed animals. I spent my lunch making pitiful origami cards for the kids. We also spent the whole weekend making valentines for our son's whole class, including the gerbal. Perhaps, when the kids have moved on, we'll go back to the "Ah. It's a made up holiday" mode. But for now, thanks to preschool, my wife, the kids, and I are enjoying feeling a little closer by getting into the festivities.