Nicholas, here is a big hint for your future when you find that love of your life, the other half of your soul. Ready? OK, here it is: THIS DAY REALLY MATTERS…DON’T SCREW IT UP!
OK, we’ve got that out of the way. Don’t be a doofus about Valentine’s Day like your Daddy was…though I’d like to think I trained up pretty quickly and do it rather well. Normally, our Valentine’s Day involves some sort of confidence course (you know, one of those military training areas with zip-line towers, rope bridges, mud pits, and obstacles designed to really hurt you in ways you can’t imagine if you do something really stupid…only our confidence courses don’t usually involve live ammunition!).
Mommy has a thing about reality TV shows and they’ve figured into Valentine’s Day confidence courses at one point or another. One was a variation on a Survivor treasure hunt where her tree mail was hanging in a new Longaberger Valentine’s Day basket and she had to find the prizes which were guarded by various foxes in the house. Another one was a spoof on The Mole (which was so much cooler when evil Anderson Cooper was running the show!) where she had to piece together a puzzle using letters that were located by clues in order to find the big prize which was hidden in the dryer.
The point is that you can have a bit of fun with the day. Be creative! In those instances, the games were done up with actual images and art from the shows. For The Mole variant, I delivered her Mole Dossier containing the clues to items she could add to her running pot along with the flowers at WakeMed. Ah, the flowers. They really like them. They really like getting them a lot! And if you can arrange for them to be delivered at their workplace, so much the better for the nyah, nyah, nyah…I got the flowers, you ain’t got no flowers! effect. Better yet, deliver them yourself! You have no clue how much that will mean to her! Anywho, you’ll never have a problem picking out my arrangements…they’ll always have that one signature yellow rose amongst the others (unless the florist is out of them…ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!). But go find your own signature, eh?
I was surprised that when I delivered them personally that first year that no one else sent flowers to their lovely brides at the Children’s ED at WakeMed. None. Message to those other guys…GET ON THE STICK! She’ll be thrilled more than you’ll know…trust me!
If you’re going to have some fun, don’t forget to really make it worth her while. As you’re growing up, I’m quite sure you’ll see Mommy’s silk Godiva boxes and jewelry and whatnot. Word to the wise: ne touche pas, s’il vous plait! (Please do not touch!)
Don’t hold back…show her that you really do love her and appreciate her for who she is. But don’t lose sight of what the day is about in the garden of flowers or the tons of chocolate. At the end of the day, it’s an expression of how much you love each other and frankly, there is no Godiva box or necklace that can compare to that wonderful feeling that you’ve found the other half of your soul. Fortunately, I’ve found mine and you were a gift to us through her. That sort of gift can never be topped… 🙂
Speaking of which, you gave us a real good gift when you did very well at The Picture People. The Valentine’s Day pictures rock and that’s all I’m going to say about them. One in particular is perhaps the best image that has been captured of the boy (in my opinion) and it’s now on my desk at work. WOO HOO!
We can’t recommend The Picture People enough, particularly if you’re into baby pictures. We’ve found that our little Don Juan de Marco prefers the feminine photographers…not that this should come to a surprise. From someone two weeks old to one eight-six years old…the legions of adoring fans of cute baby mode are not few and they’re not far between! It may not be the most exclusive club in the world but it’s certainly one of the coolest! 🙂
Just bear in mind that although they are owned by Hallmark, your points card doesn’t work there. That really stinks because these guys ain’t cheap and we’ve really racked up the frequent flyer points with them these past nine months! But they are orders of magnitude better than any photographers we’ve seen…they’re generally very good at engaging the child and they have some really seriously cool props.