Valentine's Day Preparation

Well, I found these super cute Valentines at Goodwill a couple of months ago for the boys to give their classmates.  One was an unopened package of foil Harry Potter cards (for Josiah) and the other was an opened package of clear animal cards (perfect for Jackson!).  Even though Jackson's box was opened, all the cards were still there.  I was so excited when I found these not only because they were only 50 cents a box but also because I knew they were actually Valentines cards that reflected the boys' interests and that they'd enjoy giving to their friends.

Josiah's teacher sent a class list home so that each student could add their classmate's name to each Valentine.  Josiah enjoyed looking at the list and marking each name off as he went along.  He even drew little boxes by each name and put a check mark in it once he finished each one.

Jackson's teacher sent a note home telling us how many students were in the class and asking that we not worry about addressing each one so that it would be easier for them to distribute by just going down the rows instead of digging through the cards or scrambling around the room to deliver each specific one.  That seems reasonable to me.  In a class of 25+ students, it does seem like a more efficient way to go.  However, Jackson was determined to write his friends' names on each Valentine.  He even started to cry when I told him not to do that.  It didn't matter how I tried to explain it.  He could not leave that "to:" line blank.  So, what could I do?  I asked myself which was more important...taking a hard line on not addressing the Valentines like his teacher requested and deal with the meltdown, or let him address them his way and it actually be an enjoyable experience?  It's probably no surprise but I went with the latter.  It just didn't seem like something worth fighting over.  Especially since he was trying to be thoughtful and considerate of his friends, selecting the perfect Valentine for each.  Now I'm just hoping that no one is forgotten and that his method doesn't interfere too much with his teacher's plan for the party.  I wrote down each name as he went along so that hopefully we wouldn't have any duplicates and to keep track of how many more were needed (in case someone was forgotten).  In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal but I certainly don't want any 1st graders getting their feelings hurt.

I'm looking forward to helping the boys with their Valentines for their teachers.  I don't want them to accidentally find out about them before hand, so you'll have to wait until later to see what they made.  It's something I found on pinterest that I thought was really cute.  Justin thinks it's super cheesy but come on, what teacher doesn't like "cheesy" from a kid? ;)

I'm thinking about making a cake later.  We'll see how things go...