Cupid: A Valentine’s Day Tradition

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Valentine’s Day

Ahhh, Valentine’s Day. A time to show that special person in your life that you love them. A day dedicated to making other people in your life feel special and important.

Your attitude will truly affect the outcome of Valentine’s Day. You get what you put into the holiday. Going into it with a negative attitude will put a damper on the day. Deciding that you will be happy and enjoy yourself will give you more of a positive experience.

This is the same for your children. Like any holiday, your children are going to mimic your traditions and mentality for each holiday.

Our Tradition

My mom decided to make Valentine’s day fun when I was a child. She created a story that made the day feel fun and magical. I looked forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day all year. She made me feel so loved and special.

It wasn't until I was married and moved out that I learned that our Valentine’s tradition was not something the rest of the world did. (But it absolutely should be!)

Here is how to create excitement on Valentine’s Day with your children: Add Cupid to your list of magical beings.

What Cupid Does

Cupid will bring your child a small gift. In our family, this is usually a box of chocolates and a small stuffed animal.

We typically get small things from Dollar Tree or Walmart. Spending about $5-$10 per child.

Here is where the fun comes in.

Cupid only comes to the house when the whole family is home. He will ring or knock on the door and drop off the small gift.

The kids will race to the door to try to catch cupid before he flies away. Half of the fun is trying to figure out where Cupid went, and how the heck he is able to get away without being spotted.

Cupid is very tricky, he doesn’t want to be spotted but wants to leave a feeling of love behind.

This year, we are doing a plush and chocolates from Walmart

How to Pull This Off

Depending on the age of your children, (and the security system in your home), this can be challenging.

Figure out a time to place the gift on the front porch without your children noticing you are gone.

{Place it after returning home from work, or have the kids play with toys while you run outside, one person entertains the kids while another goes outside.}

After everyone is settled in and hanging out together, create a way to have the doorbell ring or knock on the door.

{This can be done by using your security camera app, having one parent walk to the back of the house and ring the back doorbell, or knocking loudly from a different room.}

Sometimes you have to get creative on making the doorbell ring while the kids are in the house. This is part of the fun for the parents though!

When your children open the door, show your excitement to them! Wonder with each other how that tricky Cupid was able to get away without being seen!

The gifts are left on the front porch. Each child has a tag with their name and with Love, Cupid written in fancy lettering.

Add to the Fun

When I was a child, we added to the tradition. We began to leave special gifts for our family and friends as well.

As a family, we would bake a small treat, then drive over to our friend’s houses. Our mom would wait in the car, and my siblings and I would sneak up to the door and quietly leave their gifts on the porch. We would ring the doorbell and run like mad to make it back to the car before we were spotted.

We would laugh and laugh about how we managed to escape or how we were caught by our friends this year.

Later in the evening, we would wait for hours for our cousins and friends to come to our house to doorbell ditch us. Hoping that we too could steal a glance at them as they ran away.

This tradition is a staple in my memory. It is one of the holiday traditions I will always treasure. The bonding experience that it has given me, my siblings, and my parents has really been wonderful.

Create Your Magic

Looking back on the years I celebrated this tradition, I am still amazed at how my parents were able to pull it off. They made the day so special.

It was fun to have a tradition that showed my friends and family that we loved them and thought of them on Valentine’s Day.

I hope this brings you a little more joy on Valentine’s Day, creating a newfound love for the day.