Organize a Perfect Valentine’s Day for your Kids

Since Valentine’s Day is a festival of love, it is a wonderful opportunity for dads to
reinforce messages of love and security.  While not everyone will have time to make a big
production of Valentine’s Day, here are a few ideas that will make the day stand out for  you
and your kids.  At the very least, don’t forget the flowers for your wife.  And if you
have a little girl in the house, you better make sure daddy has something special for her as well,
or you’ll be sleeping on the couch, in the dog house.

1. During the previous night, fill the
   children’s room with heart
   shaped balloons.  The local supermarket will have a variety including helium-filled ones, but even
   inexpensive blow-up balloons will do the trick.
2. Wake your kids to the sound of music,
   preferably some soft, inspiring instrumental music. Click for a David
   Foster instrumental.
3. Greet the children with a warm Valentine’s Day hug and a kiss.
4. Serve heart-shaped
   cookies and pancakes for breakfast, or decorate their cereal with a fruit in the shape of a heart.
5. Hide a Valentine’s Day special message for each of the children anywhere in the dining room
   and give a prize to the child who finds his/her message first and then to the child who reads out
   his/her message best. To take the lesson of love and caring further, you could give a special Valentine’s
   prize to the
   child who spontaneously helps a sibling find his/her message.
6. If the children are at school
   during the day, put a valentine in their lunchbox.
7. If the children are going to be with you the entire day, take
   them to a nearby home for the aged or an orphanage and have them give away tiny tokens
   of friendship and
   affection.
8. Cook a big Valentine’s Day dinner together with the kids or at least prepare one
   special dish to make the evening memorable.
9. End the day with a celebration, which could be
   a party with the local kids, a family movie, or a dinner with their grandparents.