Not Just a Hallmark Holiday

I was always the one grumbling about Valentine's Day and Sweetest Day.  My poor boyfriends, always trying to impress me - nothing ever quite did.  But now, all these years (and boyfriends later - hehe) I have seen the light.

Today is the Blue Shift, so my Firefighter is off keeping the city safe and healthy.  And, because it is indeed the Blue Shift, his own poor house is a mess of germs.  It seems that we only get to go a few days without someone being sick - and those seem to be the days that Daddy is home.  Our children are gracious enough to spare him the stress of sick children, and I think that is just so sweet!  As we speak - O came out of her bedroom, threw up all over the floor and returned to her bed.  I am gracious that it is on hardwood versus her bed - I hate changing puke soaked linens!  But none-the-less, it is the dreaded Blue Shift.  J is home tomorrow and then gone the next 48 hours.  He traded with one of the guys so he could go on the overnight field trip to the EAA with his former students the following week.  I knew he couldn't truly stay away from the classroom.

Which means tomorrow, Valentine's Day is the only day we will have to spend together for 96 hours.  J has a nice dinner planned for us after the kids go to bed.  He is also planning on being gracious and doing the grocery shopping for me tomorrow.  Notice I say planning.  Liv being sick, will most assuredly place that duty back on my shoulders.

But, sick kids and everything, Valentine's Day does serve a purpose.  Aside from lining the pockets of the candy, flower and card industries' executives, it reminds us to spend time with our loved ones and to enjoy those moments.  For moms and dads to stop being parents and return for a brief moment to being a couple.  For friends to remember how grateful they really are to have each other, even when there is no significant other at that moment.  For families to remember that love really does start at home.  Valentine's Day reminds us to love each other and appreciate and be open to that love.

So, I will leave you with that.  Go back to my sick little gal, hopefully find her sleeping and anxiously await the passing of time until my firefighter is home to cuddle his Littlest Love and enjoy our few moments as a couple at the ends of the day.

Happy Valentine's Day!