Valentine Cards

It's the dreaded time of year to make at least 20 Valentine cards for Collin to give to his classmates Friday during the school Valentine Party.  Because of where we live, most kids do not bring the 30-to-a-box-for-$3 kind of Valentine.  They generally give homemade Valentines or ones that you can tell the parents spent a lot of time and money.  Because we don't celebrate Valentine's Day, I don't remember this "holiday" until the weekend before which does not give us enough time to have tears about writing on all of the cards, take many breaks and even decide what to bring.  Usually by the time all of the cards are made, Collin and I need a break from each other.  That's ridiculous, I know.....but most other working parents I talk to go through the same thing each year.

This time, I planned ahead so it would be less time consuming and enjoyable for both of us.  Collin loves to play tic-tac-toe.  For less than $1 a set, I found a tic-tac-toe card and clear bag that could be personalized with a message on the top folding card.  For playing pieces, we included red or pink M&Ms.  All we had to do was assemble and address each package.  Easy peasy!  I just hoped he liked this idea.

Here is a sample.  I, of course, had Collin's name printed on the card

When it was time to start assembling the cards, Collin did fuss about having to write so many names. I pointed out that he did not have to write a message like he did in the past.  All he had to do was write 18 names on the back of the card.  He bargained with me and said he would do 9 which was half of the names.  I was fine with this because I knew we had another night to work on these.  He started writing the names and even included a challenge for himself like writing the best for one name, including dots at the end of each line for another name, etc. He was having so much fun that he did not notice he finished all of the names in less than 20 minutes

He wanted to make a card for his teacher next.  I brought out construction paper and stickers. He cut out a few hearts and was not happy with how they turned out.  He continued cutting and making adjustments from the cuts before.  Using different colored paper, this is how his card turned out.  I did help with the gluing after he showed me where to place each heart.

The message on the card says:

Happy Valentines Day.  Thanks for being my teacher.  

From: Collin

To: Mrs. Briggs

While he was making his teacher a card, I was assembling the student's cards using M&Ms and then stapling the bags with the name cards.  Within less than 1 1/2 hours , we were finished....and not too many tears.  This is the way to go.  I will have to remember this for next year and try not to forget to plan ahead.