When I began to see pink Valentine’s Day stuff flying across my screen about three weeks ago, I wanted to share something about making it boy-friendly. My six-year old son told me that Valentine’s Day is the most “humongous holiday of the year”, after Christmas and Halloween. He probably has a future at Martha Stewart Omnimedia.
I asked Meagan Francis (AKA The Happiest Mom) from the Life Listened podcast network, to help me out. Meagan has four sons (and a daughter) and is someone I trust to keep things simple.
She used her expertise on little boys to identify five sweet activities for moms and their boys for Valentine’s Day. While Meagan worried that these ideas are not so out of the box, I want to remind us all that our little boys have not “been there, done that.” The whole world is new to them.
1. I’m not very crafty””I’ve said many times that I should have failed “cutting out shapes” in Kindergarten””but even I, the scissors impaired, can cut a decent heart using the fold-paper-and-cut-a-curve method. So can you. Check out MakeAndTakes for a fun, boy-friendly heart-shaped-animals craft.
Easy kid craft from make and takes
2. Take your boy on a mini-date. I recommend a hot cup of cocoa, heavy on the whipped cream, and maybe a heart-shaped shortbread cookie.
Loving photo by Matthew Wicks
3. Create a lasting memory of this Valentine’s Day. Record the two of you reading one of Hallmark’s recordable storybooks together (they have favorite titles like “Guess How Much I Love You”) Make sure to inscribe the date and the readers’ names in the book! It’ll become a favorite, and his constant questions and interruptions will become part of the story.
4. Watch a Valentine’s Day cartoon together. I admit it: the Spongebob Valentine Special is my favorite.
5. Snuggle on the sofa and soak up the love. Nobody loves his mama like a little boy””but the older he gets, the more likely that his affections will be co-opted by some little charmer with long eyelashes. Take advantage of being your little boy’s only Valentine now, while he’s still young enough to be shamelessly head-over-heels in love with you.
More of Meagan can be found at The Mom Hour podcast and in the insanely useful book One Year to an Organized Life with Baby: From Pregnancy to Parenthood, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Ready for Baby and Keeping Your Family Organized.
How will you celebrate V-Day with your little one(s)?
Meagan’s family photo taken by Jennifer Mayo Studios
