Valentines

Valentine's Day is coming up, as we have told Joe, and as he is fond of repeating. (This replaces "Christmas is coming up!" which he was known to chirp earlier this month.) So we have been busy making valentines this weekend. Turns out, making valentines is kind of a drama-filled activity. The activity was introduced last night and we quickly--very quickly--deduced that we were going to need more stickers as each of Our Hero's valentines requires approximately 100 stickers to be deemed complete.* More stickers were procured at this morning's Target run (froggies with goggly eyes and puffy hearts). Joe was set to make valentines immediately following lunch. Our first drama ensued when he was told time did not permit, and valentine making would follow nap time. Fans, it is really hard not to laugh at your two-and-a-half year old screaming, "I WANT TO CUT!" as tears stream down his face. Immediately upon waking, valentine making was demanded.** It was all going so well until Joe ran out of stickers and requested "to share" Mommy's. Mommy was down with sharing, no doubt, but when she made to cut one of her sheets of stickers in half. . .well, all hell broke loose. Tears, wails. . .So we are on a hiatus from valentine making. The boys are off to the Little Target for two items not in stock this morning at the Big Target and the girls are upstairs--Clara trying valiantly to get to the nest of power cords, and Julie filing this report from the field.

*They also require copious cutting. Ted says they look like ransom notes. Julie laughed really hard at that one.

**Interesting, related sidebar: when Joe got his first scissors, he was promised their use following his nap. He woke up and said, "I want to cut."