Valentine's Day Is Just Around the Corner

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and as a teacher, this was always one of those days I quietly dreaded.

There was the pressure of making sure every child had a Valentine bag or box ready for the big day. Then came helping each student walk around the room, passing out cards and making sure no one was missed. I always requested that names not be written on the Valentines so we could simply go in a circle and avoid confusion, but there were always a couple of parents who included names anyway. That meant stopping to match cards to boxes, slowing everything down.

Do the math. Thirty students with thirty cards each, because yes, they always wanted one for themselves, equals nine hundred cards that had to be passed out in a thirty minute window.

But beyond the logistics, Valentine's Day carried a deeper weight for me.

As a child, I was often the one who went home before the party, listening later as classmates talked about the Valentines they passed out and received. As a teacher, I also knew the child whose parent simply forgot to bring in cards, something that is completely understandable in our chaotic, busy lives.

Those experiences are what inspired my book, I Can't Give Him a Valentine. Because Valentine's Day, like all holidays, should be about love and friendship, not stress, comparison, or what someone does or does not have.

In the story, Annie the Porcupine struggles with not having Valentines to pass out and worries about what her classmates will think of her. But she learns something important. Friendship is not about physical gifts. It is about the gift of time, the joy of being around someone, and the feeling of belonging.

As we head into another Valentine's Day in the classroom, I encourage us to pause and talk with our students about what truly matters. Not the Valentine card. Not the candy. But the simple, powerful gift of being a good friend