Last year, I remember finding it amusing that Tokki came home with a collection of Valentines, signed by the other daycare parents. I mean, the kids can’t read.
But I love Valentines and this year, at two and a half, Tokki understands so much more. I can’t wait to get in on the action.
So, the other day, running errands, I found myself in the Valentine’s aisle at a big-box retailer. I don’t usually like to frequent stores where you can buy a thousand rolls of toilet paper and a package of salad greens but I had no idea where to get Valentine cards. I walked in a pathetic, hopeful naif.
The selection is as depressing as walking down the toy aisle. There were the “girl” cards (Hello Kitty) and the “boy” cards (cars from an animated movie).
I picked a package of kitties (not Hello Kitty but pictures of real cats) and brought them home. They would do.
Then, I heard about an artist in my neighbourhood, Shira Spector, and her Valentines, and I wrote to her about standing in the aisle at the store, stifled by a choice of pink versus cars.
“I’ve been there,” she wrote back, calling the selection “tragic.” Instead of becoming dejected, however, Shira went out and designed her own.
They are sweet little “Let’s all BEE Valentines!” type designs that depict boys and girls and families (above all, I love the families – isn’t that what love is all about for the under-5 set?).
While Shira calls them LGBT and queer-friendly (or “Not your Grandma’s Valentines!”), I think it’s strange that sweet images of two boys or two girls or a happy family has to be the “alternative” to the “norm.”
I’d love to have Tokki draw his own Valentines and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to find ourselves doing that (will there be a time when he’s old enough to draw a bunch of cards but young enough to not think it’s uncool that he’s doing it with Mom?).
Until then, I now have way too many Valentine cards, both kittens and Shira’s family Valentines, to give out to his daycare classmates. I can’t wait to explain the whole ritual of exchanging cards and pack them with him on Valentine’s Day morning for the party his daycare will have that day.
Click to download one of Shira Spector’s Valentine’s cards. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Do you struggle with Valentine's Day and your kid? Chime in on social media @iVillageCanada
Read More by Hannah Sung:
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