Parenting Without A License

She’s My Valentime

Posted by Kimberly on February 13th, 2008 — Posted in Kipple

Over the past couple of years, V-Day has gotten to be less of an event that it used to be around here. Not that it was ever a big event for me–I was never particularly into the whole candy and flowers cabal even back when there was someone to buy me candy and flowers. But to Diva Girl, Valentine’s Day used to rank only slightly behind Christmas and her birthday in the catalogue of important annual events.

Now that she’s a world weary tween working on perfecting her aura of angst and ennui before she reaches those all important teen years though, those sparkly licensed protestations of love and friendship hold slightly less allure than they once did. Sure, she’s still a big fan of the candy and the cupcakes and the class party, and she still carefully considers her options at the drugstore before selecting the exact right box of commercialized affection to express her inner cool, but she no longer hoards those shiny pieces of foil paper, obsessively reviewing her haul long after everyone else has moved on to other holidays. Her love affair with the Valentine appears to be nearly at end.

The Zen Baby’s, however, is just beginning.

It started with Diva Girl’s fancy Tinkerbell valentines. The minute Sabrina brought the box home, Regan was all about those shiny pieces of cheap cardstock. She loved them with the deep and abiding passion only a preschooler can muster for something that is not hers. The fact that she doesn’t have anyone to send “valentimes” to does nothing to lessen her conviction that she needs them. Unfortunately, her sister shares this conviction, despite the fact that there were more than enough in the box to share.

You’d think that a quick trip to the Dollar Store would be an easy out from this particular sibling skirmish, but you’d be wrong. Buying the Zen Baby her own box didn’t end the Valentime War, it only changed the battlefield on which it was fought.

With each girl in possession of her own box, the special “Teacher” valentine became the coveted piece of holiday capital. Sabrina wanted it because she has 2 classroom teachers and her box only came equipped with one valentine–admittedly a perfectly valid reason. Regan wanted it because, well, it was hers–which, really, is all the rationale you need when you’re three.

Diva Girl is not one to give up easily, however. So she appealed to her sister’s sense of reason, arguing that it was a teacher valentine, so she should have it because it was meant for a teacher, not just anyone.

Zen Baby’s defense left me speechless:

“I’m giving it to Mummy, because she teaches me stuff so she’s my teacher.”

You know, it may only be from the Dollar Store, and her “signature” is scribbled all over the picture, but I think it’s probably the nicest valentine I ever got.