Happy Valentines Day. . .

Do you have any Valentines traditions with your kids or your hubby?  I have always gotten my boys a small box of chocolates for Valentines.  My mom and dad always got my sister and I a box of chocolates and so I do the same for my kids.  It may seem silly but to me my boys are my second loves of my life after my sweet hubby.  It is funny how you follow traditions your parents set for you.  That is why I always say as parents we set the tone for how our kids will behave as adults.  In my Juvenile Justice class this is called the Social Learning theory, so it is a thing and I am not just blowing smoke.
This year I decided I would do something a little different for the boys.  I think I saw this on Pinterest, so this is not all me.  I bought them a small box of chocolates, I ate the chocolates.  I decided I would put money in the place of the chocolate.   I would never eat my kids chocolate without a good reason.  They ended up with $33 in an assortment of bills.  I also had bought them a tiny box of chocolate that I did not eat.   Oh, the sacrifices we make as moms.
I had everything set up at the breakfast table Sunday morning.   I got my hubby a cute pair of boxers with hearts and kisses on them and a bar of dark chocolate with chili pepper.  We do a simple Valentines with each other, nothing real extravagant.    When we were younger and before kids we did more extravagant things for each other but it seems wasteful to spend so much on flowers just because it is Valentines day and Dave Ramsey would frown on that.
I had to be at Church early to set up Communion so I had to hear about their reaction from the hubbs. Big T was of course the first one up and he noticed right away there was something wrong with the one box of candy.  It did not have the cellophane around it.   He asked his dad, "what is wrong with this candy?"  The hubbs played dumb and Big T opened the box, he was thrilled with the money.  He then asked what happened to the candy.   The hubbs told him I had made the ultimate sacrifice and I had eaten it to make room for the money.   Sprat, being the typical teenager, had no reaction.
I hope one day my kids realize that I tried to make their days special and I hope they realize the effort that went in to doing these little things.
I will share a quick story about the hubbs and I on Valentines.  Many years ago before we were married, we had plans to go out to dinner for Valentines.  I went over to his apartment and he was not ready so I waited in the living area.  There was a balloon tied to the remote.  As I came in the apartment he said, thanks for the balloon.  I told him I had not sent the balloon.  He said, really, maybe you should check the card.  I looked at the card and there was a poem that started my scavenger hunt for my Valentines.   The hubby is quite poetic when he wants to be.  My scavenger hunt went all over the apartment and ended with the most beautiful bouquet of roses hidden in the bedroom closet.   The hubbs is very creative with his gift giving.  He still has glimmers of this now and again.  This Valentines I got some dark chocolate and sushi.  Yummmm.
Below is a picture of one of the boys box of money.