Older kids can complain all they want about how hard they had it compared to their younger siblings but I keep telling our young adult children that we used to have lots more fun on holidays.
It's true. When our kids were little, I decorated our kitchen/dining area with dozens of construction paper hearts before they woke up. (It was a fun spin on the term "heart attack".) We made pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, even if Valentines fell on a school day and I created all manner of heart-themed dishes for dinner.
Things have changed.
Late Saturday night I realized that V-day is Monday. I forgot to send care packages to our college kids. I didn't buy a gift for my husband. I've got to show up for jury duty in a neighboring city by 8 a.m.; thank goodness there's plenty of leftover french toast for breakfast. Yesterday we were so rushed to make it to a niece's wedding festivities and to prepare for Sunday (including a sacrament meeting musical number) that I forgot to buy candy and valentines for our youngest son to distribute at school. Also, this IS the year that he didn't make a generic valentine box or bag in class. Instead, students were invited to participate in a best-decorated Valentine box contest. He had a major audition this past week and is preparing for another in a few days so today is his only chance to create a cardboard robot to receive valentines. It's covered with tinfoil and scotch tape. One arm keeps flopping down. I can only imagine the cute creations other kids are going to show off tomorrow but the boxes are supposed to be the kids' work, right? My husband and I were busy preparing dinner anyway and visiting his mother who isn't well.
So . . . I've spent a lot of time showing love in other ways. It's enough.
In the meantime, I'll stop writing and see what we can do about the Valentine robot's arm.
Well we had the best and the hardest. But that's why us older siblings are older siblings. We paid our dues and had our fun. ;) I still do miss giant pink heart shaped pancakes though...
ReplyDeleteAs Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, "it was the best of times and the worst of times".
ReplyDeleteYour little brother begged for pink heart-shaped pancakes as if he didn't know they ever existed--has it really been that long since we made them on Valentine's Day? Since I always wake up really early, I stirred up a batch, although Dad ended up cooking them and most were round. But they were pink!
After two days of the jury selection process, I was excused. Not chosen. Rejected. So I'll bake some cookies and mail a couple belated care packages to you poor neglected college students. :)