Valentine's day - what should the girls get Dad?

[ryedalema]

Has anyone got any good ideas for gifts from a toddler and a newborn girl to their daddy on Valentine's day? We've done printed t-shirts and mugs, framed pictures and photos. I'm just about to order heart shaped cup cake moulds (hope they arrive in time).

Has anyone got any better ideas? All thoughts welcome - we're a pretty sentimental family, so don't worry about anything seeming too cutesy ;-)

[lorraineliyanage]

ceramic stuff with the girls' handprints perhaps? from all fired up. or a hand/foot cast although i think these are quite pricey.

[daizie]

How ridiculous . Isn't Valentines day about recieving a card from an unknown admirer ? Ive heard it all now .

[ryedalema]

Used to be I agree - but after the last few months that we've had we'd like to make/give him something that shows how much we care.

[helena handbasket]

daizie Wrote:

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> How ridiculous . Isn't Valentines day about

> recieving a card from an unknown admirer ? Ive

> heard it all now .

Small children giving their daddy a token of love is ridiculous?

Now I've heard it all.

[lorraineliyanage]

It's a bit of a "bah humbug" comment!

[ryedalema]

Sorry but i see nothing wrong with a family showing each other that they care and having some nice memories. I'm getting a bit tired of all the negativity around at the mo. My Ma always used to say 'if you can't say anything nice...'.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Daizie has a point, St Valentine is connected with courtly or romantic love - probably not encouraged between father and daughters outside the Appalachian region.

Gifts from your children to their Dad is a wonderful and charming notion but you don't need to wait for a special day to show that, why not have an impromptu Father as Guest of Honour Tea Party or something?

I agree with a previous poster that the ceramics option is quite fun, your toddler will be old enough to daub something herself and the baby can add the odd fingerprint.

[sophiesofa]

I think either you or me is interpreting the comments incorrectly. I read it as all but one agreeing with you and you have replied to that one earlier. Good luck with the gifts

[ryedalema]

Ah yes - I have read it wrongly - sorry HelenaHB.

I agree that VD (ooh - bad abbreviation) is traditionally about true and romantic love and of course we could do this any day. I just thought, grab any and all opportunities to show love. In our house, at least, we get a lot carried away with the day-to-day and mundane and forget to tell each other how we feel.

Thanks for the ceramics idea - I feel a trip to All Fired Up coming along.

Sorry for snapping everyone - I should read things properly.

[snowboarder]

very organised and lovely of you ryedalema. I s'pose I should buy something for my husband myself.....But actually I've kind of always felt it was really a day for HIM to buy ME sparkly things....(come on, mr snowboarder).

[Smiler]

Sweet, though I am with those who see it more as a romantic, couply occasion. Am hoping for some nice flowers, especially since Mr Smiler is going on a stag do this weekend - grrr!

With All Fired Up you have to go quite far ahead to do the ceramics, they take 2 weeks to put in the kiln etc., worth phoning to check in advance (they might be doing an express thing for valentines). I have never found the staff very helpful in there - may be worth taking a childless friend to help you out with the painting / toddler control!

Heart-shaped cake (or indeed any cake) sounds nice. Or just a little card with a nice message. Or, if he has a sweet tooth, some chocolates (Sainsbury's has a good selection of valentine chocs if you don't want to spend a fortune- ooh, must mention those to Mr Smiler too)! In fact Sainsbury's had all manner of tacky red valentine's stuff if you are going for kitsch appeal!

[helena handbasket]

Oops! I am all for family participation in Valentine's rituals! My grandparents and I have sent valentines to each other in the post my entire life, and as I'm pushing 40 and still have two grandparents alive I think that's a lovely achievement. My son and I just posted his to various family members the other day.

In Canada it was quite common in primary school to make a fuss about it. We made our own little mail boxes and taped them to our desks, and on Valentine's day we delivered our valentines to our little classmates. Then we would have pink cupcakes and pink juice and sift through our "post" and it was a really happy day. How often does anyone get 25 notes of affection in one day? When I first moved here I was quite sad to realize you can't buy boxes of children's valentines here. And all the cards are a bit, um, dirty. Hard to find one for the grandparents!

I'm not too worried about the origins......I don't think Christmas really resembles what it originally looked like either but we still buy into the basic concept.

I was planning on making valentine's cookies for my son to take to pre-school but now I'm not sure. Is that just too "crazy" for here?

[helena handbasket]

edited to remove a useless link!

[lorraineliyanage]

Helena has a good point. I am sure most people get involved with Easter and Christmas but not all that do are believers in Jesus but not many people would question that.

[helena handbasket]

Guess it's a North American tradition to include the children and make it a bit less sexed up.

Children's Valentine's Day projects

[lorraineliyanage]

Our primary school used to make Valentine's day cards to take home for our parents. Not sure if schools still do that now?

[ryedalema]

I agree I think it's totally ok to have your own version of a traditional festival - I was thinking about it last night (I'm such a worrier when I think I've offended).

Easter - I'm pretty sure didn't have much to do with chocolate originally (don't remember any stories about Jesus entering on a donkey while eating a Creme Egg!)

Christmas - pretty sure Santa wasn't one of the three wise men (and wasn't this a pagan festival to start with?).

Let's not get started on Hallow'een?

My family's always celebrated Valentines (my Dad embarrasingly sent me a card for ages - we're not saying there's anything creepy or wrong with that are we?) Gosh I really hope not.

I've ordered some heart shaped cupcake moulds and cookie cutters from the Lakeland catalogue.

We're going to have lots of fun decorating them in mountains of icing and sprinkles - and watch my husband eat them all (and then call the dentist!)

My husband - ironically for the flow of this thread - agrees that Valentine's is a big Hallmark conspiracy. So he's booked something for Saturday as a romantic statement, while still managing a passive protest against the consumerism. Bless!

Me? I'm a total consumer junkie - bring on the balloons and bunting. :-)

[candj]

It is definitely a North American thing as I remember giving Valentine cards to my school friends - they came in huge bags and had silly, cheesy sayings, but fun for kids to give to one another. I actually looked for them here so my daughter could pass them out to her school friends, but no such luck!

[helena handbasket]

canj try this......Adorable vintage children's valentines I'm not having luck posting links today though, up all night with an ill child so brain's a bit mushy!

These are like the kind I had as a child. It's Amazon U.S. but if you click on the UK site you can get them through there (bit late I guess). There's always doilies, sparkles and glue! That's what we did this year.

[candj]

Thanks Helena! I didn't even think about Amazon as I just looked in all of our local card shops and all they had were the bigger normal sized cards, not the little wee ones for kids. Definitely next year we'll be up for this for the school friends.

Oh and speaking of other holidays, we 'do' Halloween as well, carved pumpkins outside, spooky things on the windows and doors.... and so much candy your teeth will ache! It's all since having kids and I've noticed more and more people on our street doing it each year. I love it.

[Smiler]

Make the cookies - they will love it, not "crazy" at all!

helena handbasket Wrote:

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> I was planning on making valentine's cookies for

> my son to take to pre-school but now I'm not sure.

> Is that just too "crazy" for here?

[Jamma]

Making cakes and cards is ace. The kids are too young to get the sentiment necessarily but will love the activity.

But buying things on the other hand is a nonsense. Valentine's day is about love and romance not buying tat and shizzle. And certainly not buying things 'from' children too young to grasp the whole concept.

I'd suggest if you appreciate your husband's efforts as a dad tell him exactly that on Sunday and it'll make him happy.

[iaineasy]

eek I was at work and totally forgot valentines, I also have no cash because we need a load of dosh to move next weekend, Anna hasn't said anything perhaps I can rustle up some flowers tommorow. well done ryedelama for making the effort I am sure the hubby will love it!

[Pickle]

Embarrasingly hubby and I have had the Valentines conversation, which went along the lines of "shall we agree not to get anything as per usual this year?". Terrible, I know, but we've never celebrated it :-$