Party Heart-y

Valentine's Day is not a big day here at our house.  We don't do gifts (because after Christmas and two birthdays in January we are broke), and we don't try to go out to eat (because we're too old to fight the crowds.)  However, Valentine's is still one of the high holy days of elementary school, so we try to make it special for the boy.

I vividly remember getting small Valentine treats from my parents as a child - a purple cargo purse and a pair of Garfield earrings particularly stick out in my mind - so I do the same for Matt.  This year he woke up to a breakfast of heart shaped cinnamon rolls, a Snoopy card, and a DVD of "Cool Runnings," about the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team, which he thinks is hilarious.

Valentine's cinnamon rolls - thank you, Pinterest!

At school they have the mandatory card exchange and classroom party.  He had carefully worked on the valentines for his classmates, picking each card specifically for each child.  He was using "Madagascar 3" valentines, and tried to match each character to its recipient.  Most kids got Alex the Lion or Marty the Zebra, but some of them got the super annoying King Julian.  I'm not sure what his intentions were there,  but I'm guessing it wasn't a compliment.  Regardless, all the cards were cute and he handed out mini bags of M&Ms with them, so it's all good.  He got bonus points with his teacher by giving her all the extra bags of M&Ms.  Smart boy.

His school also had a Valentine's dance, called the "Heart-y Party."  If you've never been to an elementary school dance, it is basically a giant game of tag set to Taylor Swift music.  The kids don't dance so much as run wildly around the gym, stopping occasionally to get their face painted or eat pizza.  The fifth grade girls dress up and travel in packs, whispering about the fifth grade boys, who are not trying too hard to avoid them.  It's loud, unpredictable, and usually hilarious.

Matt had a blast.  Almost as soon as we walked in he was grabbed by his classmate Hannah, and the two of them danced together all night. Mostly they spun each other in circles, but there was some actual dancing involved.  They did the Cha Cha Slide, rocked out to "Moves Like Jagger," and of course showed off their best "Gangnam Style."

Matt and Hannah

Ready for "Dancing with the Stars"

Gangnam Style

More Gangnam Style

By the end of the night they were sweaty, giggly, and worn out.  I hope all his Valentine's Days are this sweet.

Matt and Hannah - I think they are both missing the same tooth.