Valentine's Day isn't just for Couples!

Unlike most people, Valentine's Day for me isn't a day for couples only, but a day for my whole family.  I guess our tradition of having a "family" valentine dinner started because we didn't have a lot of money to go out to dinner as a couple.  So we stayed home.  Our children were included.  It has been over 15 years since we started that tradition and our children love it.  It is a time for us to take the phone off the hook, shut the blinds, and enjoy an evening with our children.  We start with the much anticipated candlelight dinner and after dessert we open the valentine box where every person has written a special valentine to each member of the family.  My husband usually reads them and starts to get weepy and then the flood gates are opened and soon we are all teary.  It is such a wonderful time for our family to feel the love that we have for one another.  I have 7 binders that sit on the bookshelf through the month of February that contains valentines that each member of the family has received through the years.  It is fun for the kids to sit down and read the wonderful words that their parents and siblings have expressed to them over the years.  I LOVE Valentine's Day.