valentines - not for the weak of heart

I was sort of dreading valentine's day. All the holidays are difficult right now. Combined with my crazy head and hectic work week i was feeling a little knot in my stomach that i was going to have a classic bad mommy moment.

It worked out though. Parker and i went out and picked out a small gift for each of the kids, some playmobil, some craft kits and a fountain pen for Tristan. My valentines from Brenda arrived just in time. The girls loved them, as i knew they would. Toby opted for little boxes of smarties with a "to and from" box on the back. They sat while i cooked dinner and did all their cards - without any fuss or frustration.

I made one of our favourite dinners, linguine tossed with smoked salmon, and we had a lovely evening. At bedtime we talked a bit more about love and relationships and mommy and daddy. Just casual, but always keeping the conversation open for them. Then i sent them to bed, cards ready to go in paper sacks.

Valentines morning they jumped out of bed and in a whirlwind of dirty socks, teeth-brushing and cheerios they were in the car ten minutes after they woke. Returning home in the afternoon with bags full of treats and valentines and retreated to their bedroom to compare the hauls.

Work, which i had been dreading, went amazingly well. Everybody was happy. There were no boyfirend/husband/partners grumpy because they were out spending money on something they resented. All the couples, and there were lots of them, were sweet and cute and lovey-dovey, and had i not magically transformed into a woman who was not bitter about love and relationships, i probably would have spent the evening giving caf to the decafs, veal broth to the vegetarians and spilling red wine on every white blouse.

But i didn't. Instead i gave everybody SAJ Valentines in their billfolds and drove home with a pocket full of money and a little faith in my heart.

And i walked in the door to a bouquet of flowers, a card, some chocolate and a bottle of wine.

Faith - Restored