Ah, the holiday of love.  In my house Valentine’s Day is like a War of the Roses versus the Not Roses.  My husband can’t stand Valentine’s Day.  To him it is a Hallmark holiday made up to encourage consumerism.  After all, he can tell me any day and every day that he loves me.  I, of course, love it because I am a romantic gal and I look forward to my husband being forced to tell me all day on that day that he loves me.

That War has been ensuing since we’ve known each other and we’ve came to reconciliation on that front years ago.  However, now, as a parent, I have a newfound love and appreciation for Cupid’s holiday.  As parents it is so easy to forget about your spouse and partner.  Kids demand time and energy – requiring pretty much all you have to give.  So when it’s lights out and bedtime for the kiddos, who has energy to spend time focused on yet another person?  When the house is finally quiet you just want time to recharge your own battery.

So the partner gets put on the back burner, right?  Well, not this February!  Parents, let’s use Valentine’s Day as the excuse and the reason to remind your partner how much you love and appreciate them.  Sure, they might drive you batty because they can’t seem to hear the very loud buzzing of the dryer and you ended up folding all the clothes AGAIN, but, really, they have to be great, too.  Didn’t you start a family with them?  Your spouse has to be OK.

Tips and tricks for romancing as a busy parent?  You got me.  What do you guys do to make it work?  I am a big fan of a nice, beautiful, candlelight dinner at home, which we cook together while drinking wine.  TV stays off and we talk.  Alternatively, I’d be a fan of going out and being pampered to a nice meal with my husband, provided it’s not on Valentine’s Night itself.  Too many others out there are fighting for the same over-priced fixed menu meal.  (Although a lot of drop-In childcare centers are having extended holiday hours to accommodate romantic meals out, so there is that to consider if you can’t secure a sitter.)  But what about a Valentine’s night out the day after Valentine’s?

Get a card for your significant other.  Even if you think you tell them all the time how much you love them and how great they are, everyone deserves to hear it one more time.  Putting it in writing goes even further.  

Whatever you do, don’t forego the holiday entirely.  And don’t make it just about the kids’ and their heart crafts, Valentine’s for school, and pink cupcakes.  Remember that person you live with who is the other half of you and your kids.  Because when the kids leave home someday, that person is still going to be there.

Let me know how you and your partner make romance happen at home, too, because my husband and I are still trying to figure it out….

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