Turning Valentine’s Day From Awful to Awesome

I used to despise Valentine’s Day. That is, until my husband implemented “The Valentine’s Day Dance Party” and turned it from awful to awesome!

Sorry all you V-day lovers, but for many years I called it the worst holiday of the year. I believed it was a set up for people to disappoint their significant others. An over-inflated barrage of red and pink designed to make retailers a lot of money. The restaurants are crowded, the gifts are cheap and unnecessary, the flowers double in price, and I don’t even like heart-shaped jewelry. You could have called me the V-day Grinch. Then, two years ago, Valentine’s Day became our entire family’s favorite holiday.

Our kids were three, three, and one at the time. With three small children, there was no chance of a quiet romantic evening, nor would I have wanted one, due to the reasons above.

He decided we would stay home, crank up the music, and dance for an hour with the kids. I think it actually stemmed from too much time indoors during a very cold stretch of winter in Wisconsin, and we needed to burn some energy before we all went crazy. 

After dinner my husband cranked up the music, brought up some balloons he had hid in the basement, and busted out his best dance moves with the kids. We had an absolute BLAST – it was the best free entertainment we had had in months. The kids were laughing, jumping, dancing, and having so much fun. After finally burning all their energy, they went to bed and slept hard. And they never forgot about our new Valentine’s Day tradition.

The next year, the kids were so excited about the Valentine’s Day dance party that they told everyone about it. They looked forward to it for weeks, and it did not disappoint. We continued our tradition, danced the night away, threw balloons, wore crepe paper bandanas, and had a blast yet again. 

They had so much fun, that this year when given an art project at school to describe a special holiday that their family celebrates (most kids described Christmas, Hanukah, etc.) our kids wrote about the Valentine’s Day Dance Party. To them, it is a very special holiday, and something to look forward to.

And to be honest, it’s the same for us parents. 

Because the kids are excited, we get excited. Of course, dancing is encouraged any day of the year in our house. But it becomes a special occasion when we add a fancy title, a customized playlist, balloons and (this year) glow sticks.

What are your unique family traditions? Perhaps you can add the Valentine’s Day dance party this year!