Valentine’s Day tips and suggestions from Mary Muscari, associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University and the author of Let Kids be Kids: Rescuing Childhood.
Valentine’s Day can be pretty painful for those children who do not receive their share of heart-shaped cards. If your child comes home empty-handed, try some of these ideas:
• Plan ahead for potential disaster and have a card handy to show her that you care.
• Play a Valentine’s Day version of the television show
“Cupcake Wars.” Have some crazy ingredients ready to make various versions of cupcakes for your family to judge after dinner.
• Dress up and have a special father/daughter Valentine tea party or mother/son Valentine hot cocoa party.
• Make Valentine biscuits for the dog.
• Buy a box or two of bulk Valentines and bake some cookies. Make little gift bag for the cookies, tie a card on each and bring them to a nearby nursing home. Handing them out one-by-one will also allow your child to see the joy it brings to the residents.
• Make a giant heart out of poster board, and put it in front of your house. The world is not always a nice place, so let’s put our hearts out there to show we care.
