Whose Door Will You Tape a Heart To?

Valentine’s Day in our home has a long history of being, honestly, just bad.
Let’s just say expectations never live up.

I grew up with a mom and grandma who made amazing Valentine’s dinners with pink tablecloths, balloons, candy, and flowers. It was magical. So I tried to recreate that every year for my children.

Then February 14th took a few rough turns.

Think newborn baby.
Double ear infections.
Stomach flu.
A husband who lost his job.
A snowstorm of epic proportions.

All of a sudden, we as a family dreaded February 14th.

Last February, I was part of a blogging project that required me to write a post every single day. Honestly, it was therapeutic. It got me through the shortest but most painful month of the year. It forced me to appreciate Valentine’s Day once again.

I even made a special heart-shaped pasta dinner for the family.
I bought a box of candy.
And I made the cutest Valentine love project for my girls.

I cannot take credit for the idea. I found it on Pinterest, but of course the pin led nowhere. See example below:

Writing affirmations of love on paper hearts that you tape to doors in your home.

This is all you do.

Get construction paper.
Get a marker.
Get scissors.

Cut out some hearts.
Write what you love about your kids on the hearts.
Tape them to their bedroom doors.

That’s it.

Last year, my husband and I did this the night before Valentine’s Day while they were sleeping. Quietly taping hearts to their doors felt really special. But this year I did it at the beginning of February. Mainly because they loved them so much last year that they kept them until they started ripping and falling off.

Think July.

Which made me think maybe this should be a year-round thing. Because who doesn’t like to hear how amazing they are?

Sure, I tell my kids they are amazing. But not with details like how much I love making brownies with you or how I love that you still want to hang out with me. If I said any of that to my teenager in person, I would get the look. Anyone with teenagers knows the look.

That got me thinking even more. Which is a lot of thinking for me.

Why can’t we do this for the adults in our lives?

I am not talking about sneaking into people’s homes and taping construction paper hearts to their bedroom doors. That would be creepy. And possibly illegal.

I am talking about writing something you love about a friend on their Facebook wall. Or sending a text telling someone how much you love their homemade Alfredo pasta. Or writing an old-fashioned letter to your great aunt who loves mail and telling her how much you loved going to her house when you were little.

This Valentine’s Day, how about taping a heart to somebody’s door?