Memorable Moments: Making Valentine's Day A Little Bit Different This Year
Chocolates and fancy confections, a heartfelt card, dinner at a nice restaurant, and sending flowers are great ways to show your Valentine you care, but making Valentine’s Day truly memory worthy might start with a few ideas that are a little bit outside the chocolate box.
Do you have kids at home? Create a Valentine’s family tree with them. Hang hand made heart shaped “ornaments” on the branches for your close family members. Have your children write what they love about each person on the back. For example, Aunt Cindy’s joyous laugh, Grandpa Will’s funny jokes, cousin Emily’s homemade brownies, brother Jake’s awesome playlists. Then take some pictures and share the messages with the people on the tree.
Give the love of your life an experience to remember, such as indoor skydiving or tickets to a small, intimate concert. Or surprise them with a personal chef for the day. If your valentine has a hobby, give them something related that may be unexpected, such an Indy car champion ride driving experience, a fun cooking class, or a glass blowing or glass fusion class.
For more Valentine’s Day family involvement, ask family members to place their name in a hat before Valentine’s Day then have each person draw the name of their “secret valentine.” In the days leading up to February 14th, everyone secretly does something nice every day for the person they’ve drawn without revealing who they are. It can be as easy as completing a chore for them, such as unloading the dishwasher when they’re not looking, or hiding a small gift or note under their pillow.
Whether you have someone to share the day with or not, remember to show yourself some love, too. One way is to create a reverse bucket list. Instead of writing a list of the things you want to do, write a list of all the wonderful moments and achievements that have brought you to this present moment. Or how about giving yourself a break? Go ahead and let yourself do nothing at all for an hour, an afternoon, or a day, with zero guilt.
