My parenting philosophy, while not a really formalized idea, basically revolves around “whatever is easy is good.” My kid wants to wear two different socks to preschool? Whatever; it’s easy and I’m not gonna fight it. She expresses her personality and I’m fine with it, and I get a kick out of seeing what she can come up with all on her own. So that’s what’s happening this Valentines Day.
I hadn’t really thought of a plan for cards. Last year I cut heart shapes out of construction paper and she scribbled on them with crayons for her daycare friends. I thought maybe we’d do something Pinterest-inspired this year, with M helping out, of course. But this scenario played out over the past two weeks:
She was bored so I set her up at the table with a pack of smallish construction paper pages, and a big book of Melissa and Doug stickers we had yet to open. She’s in a big sticker loving phase, and decided to make little scenes on different pages with the stickers — dinosaur families, a bunch of creepy eyeballs, you get the idea. Then, a few days later, Mac Daddy read her a Care Bears book about Valentine’s Day, and all of a sudden those construction paper pages had become her Valentines for her friends and family. She started churning them out rapidly, a few pages every night, stashing them in her Paw Patrol suitcase as she went.
There is nothing Pinteresty about these, nor is there anything really Valentine’s Day-like about them, either! But she’s having a blast, and it’s fun to see how she’s deciding who gets what card. For instance, she made one for her brother that had pairs of animals all over it — “brothers and sisters,” she explained. A kindergarten teacher at the school who has a pet snake is getting one with snakes and spiders all over it. Her dad is getting one on brown paper because that’s the colour of poop, of course, which is utterly hilarious to her.
As much as part of me is like, maybe I should washi tape some heart-themed stickers to these cards so at least they kind of fit a theme, I’m aiming to recognize that a) her fellow three-year-old friends probably won’t care and b) it’s her thing, not mine. It’s easy, it’s what she actually wants to do, so it’s good. All credit to parents who are craftier than I am, but if my kid wants to do this and I don’t have to kick in any creative thought? AWESOME.
Maybe next year, if she wants to do something more thematic or crafty, I can pull up Pinterest, but this year it’s stickers and construction paper and magic marker scribbles.
Are you going crafty for Valentine’s Day, or do you do store-bought cards — or something completely random, like M?
guest
Honestly, I think the message you’re sending her is that her work is wonderful on its own; Mommy didn’t need to come through and “fix it” because she already made it perfectly! (that’s what I keep telling myself to excuse my own laziness)
pomegranate / 3779 posts
That is awesome – I love that she is thinking about who gets what. We just went with store bought this year because I don’t have the energy for anything else.
pomelo / 5621 posts
Love this! We are doing store bought because that is what we have time for. DS picked them out and is pretty happy. Now to just write on them.
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
Sounds perfect! I was starting to look for something my 4 year old could make and when I gave her a cut out heart, she started using her gel pens and was on a mission to make it the most colorful heart ever to give to her dad. She was focused and independent throughout the whole process! She’s so proud of it and can’t wait to give it to him. It was definitely a win!
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
I love this so much! There’s nothing better than a child working off her own motivation and curiosity, creating something all by herself from start to finish, with a plan to give it away. Perfection!
blogger / clementine / 985 posts
Tessa – lazy parenting for the win!
I love all the different ways everyone is handling Valentine’s Day. I think as long as the kids are having fun we’re all doing the right thing!
guest
We go back and forth depending on the kids moods each year. I have 2 boys so Valentine’s day isn’t always a top priority for them. This year my oldest didn’t want to do anything (he’s a middle school so he generally doesn’t want to do anything at this stage). My youngest created a Valentine’s box and decorated it with skulls and ninjas. He did add one heart in honor of me, which I though was sweet. I love Pinterest and my boys do too, however trying to convince my boys that Valentine’s Day is Pinterest worthy is usually a lost cause lol! Great post!