Ah. Tis the season to make Valentines. I've begun plans this week of a party for my class on the 13th. How terrible is that anyway? To have a Valentine's party of Friday the 13th seems like it could be a bad idea. I don't have any other choice though.

I remember making Valentine's baskets when I was in elementary school. Every child's parent would go out and by those pre-made cards that you just write your classmate's name on, and pop into an envelope. Then we would spend the afternoon passing out our cards (learning and not even knowing it), and eating cupcakes. Those were the days.

I wanted to do something sweet for my kids so I am attempting to come up with a plan to entice the parents to participate in such an event. Up to the point, I've found the major lack of parental participation very discouraging when it comes to these occasions. Many times I just end up asking for a two or three dollar donation, and then going shopping for the kids myself. It upsets me to see children get left out because their parents couldn't/didn't want to spend the few bucks to make their kid's day. This way I know what I have, who doesn't have, and I can even things out a bit.

After talking to my director, however, she says that she thinks the Valentine's cards are asking a bit much. That we all know the parents at the center (except for an elite few) won't go out of their way to feed their kids, much less let them have a little fun. (Take yesterday for instance... throwing together a last minute birthday party when we found out the little girl's parents weren't going to do anything for her on the special day, then watching the mother/father sit on their rears, eat cake, and talk on their cell phones instead of helping to entertain the class.)

At any rate, we spent today making the first of many cute cards. We used hearts to make a caterpillar, and I'll come up with some cute little message to write inside. I've got a recipe for heart shaped cupcakes that I'll be making for all the kids next week, and we'll see what else I can't come up with. I know me, and I know even if I have to make cards for the kids to color/cut/stuff into envelopes, then that's what I'll do. No one should be without a Valentine card on Feb 14th. Especially not my room full of 3 and 4 year olds.