Valentine's Day After Having Kids
Long gone are the days when you and your partner spend Valentine’s Day at an expensive restaurant. Or even wooing each other with chocolates and flowers. You’ve got kids now! That doesn’t mean the romance has to go out the window. In fact, it is even more important to share the love with your kids and partner! So, read on for some kid-friendly (and some adult and budget friendly) ideas.
Love on Your Kids
I don’t know about you, but our kids LOVE attention. They love cuddles and tickles and hide and seek. So, set aside some time to do what your kids really love. Turn off the technology and enjoy spending time with your kids. Moving beyond the ordinary things that you likely already do with your kids.
This Valentine’s Day, we are going to aim to focus more on the kids and less on work or Winey Parent, or even TV. We love our kids, but sometimes we get too caught up in the day-to-day, that we forget to focus on the amazing little humans we created. This Valentine’s Day, we are going to have fun, but we aren’t going to spend a lot of money. Remember, it isn’t about how much you spend, but how much TIME you spend together. Plus, who needs more candy or stuffed animals in their house?
Activities to Warm Their Hearts
Sit down and make Valentine’s with each other. Break out the construction paper, markers, crayons, scissors, glue, stickers, or whatever crafting stuff you have laying around. This is the perfect opportunity to reuse the backs of school flyers that are sent home. Teach your kids the mind-blowing trick of folding the paper in half and cutting out a heart. Seriously, their minds will be blown! Make a card for each member of the family or draw names out of a hat to see who you will be making a card for. Then, spend some time reading your Valentine’s or noticing the details before moving onto the next activity.
Next up, kitchen time! If you are like us, we don’t get into the kitchen often with the kids, but they LOVE it when we do bake something together. This year we are going to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting (a little something Travis found on Pinterest and I couldn’t resist!). We try not to spoil our kids with too much sugar, but on Valentine’s Day, we can break the rules a little. After dessert is made, we may even move onto homemade pizza! I know our kids love the time they get to spend in the kitchen and are more likely to eat what they have had a hand in making.
Love on Your Partner
All that focus on the kids is wonderful, but what about the other most amazing human in your life? That’s right, your partner in crime, baby daddy, hubby, hot stuff husband! After you put the kids to bed (hopefully they are exhausted from a busy day with you), make a special dinner together, pour a glass or two of wine, and just relax. For us, that may mean running to the store to treat ourselves to steamed shrimp, or it may mean fixing something we love, but don’t make often because the little people turn up their noses.
Valentine’s Day on a budget doesn’t have to be boring. We will likely enjoy a nice meal and glass of wine or two, play a few games, talk about our dreams for the future, and then maybe eat some of those cupcakes the kids made earlier in the day!
What are your Valentine’s Day plans? Share your plans in the comments below. Go to Facebook to share your ideas with our community or head over to Pinterest for more activities.
