Since our oldest is only two, I thought we’d skip the Valentine’s Day hoopla this year. But then one of my friends saw that our toddler was wearing a heart on her shirt, and she said, “Oh, look! You’re ready for Valentine’s Day!” And it was over. Now she wants to wear hearts every day, because it’s almost “Valen Time.” Okay, if she’s into it, why not make it special? I saw an idea on pinterest where one mom added a heart to her child’s door each day of February leading up to Valentine’s. I thought that was an easy and meaningful Valentine’s Day idea for parents with young kids!

I asked Nate to help me come up with a few “I love you” sayings and notes. I was thinking things like, “I love you when you giggle.”

Nate took it deeper. He told me that his first thoughts were all about him. The things that came to mind were things that made him feel good about himself and his parenting. Like how he loves it when she tries so hard to carry on a polite conversation with an adult. But he wanted his notes to be about the girls or his relationship with the girls.

Way to raise the bar, Dad.

Together we came up with a sweet list for each girl.

The baby’s list included things like:

• I love you when you smile at me any time of day or night. (Nate)
• I love you when you poop all over me. (Me)
• I love how sometimes, when you’re crying, you stop just so you can smile at us. (Me) 
• I love you when you giggle. Your joy is contagious. (Nate)

Does she know or care that we wrote her these notes? Obviously not. But maybe someday she will.

The toddler’s list included things like:

• I love you when you don’t understand something or you’re surprised  Your face displays exactly what you feel. (Nate)
• I love how excited you get when you hear someone is coming over. (Nate)
• I love how you cry when things break. You have such a tender and sweet heart. (Me)

The question then was, how would Miss A respond?

We “hid” the first heart on the refrigerator. She found it after her nap, and came to me in the other room and asked, “Why there heart on refrigerator, Mommy?”

“Oh, good question! Why don’t you take it to Daddy and ask him to read it to you?”

He read her this:

That’s a little deep for a two-year-old, don’t ya think?

I added: “Do you remember how Valentine’s Day is coming up? Valentine’s Day is about love, and this is one of the things Daddy loves about you. Do you understand?”

Her reaction was not what I expected. She left!

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I got heart! Daddy, come sing with me in (the) kitchen. Daddy love me when I sing.”

Best. Reaction. Ever.

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