These are the Valentines Parker is giving his classmates this year. The boys cards all say, “Valentine, you light up my life!” and the girls all say, “You glow girl!”

The rings are the consistency of gummy bears and when you push underneath the knobby ball the ring flashes bright lights. Bright lights. In many colors. Fast enough to induce seizures! They’re popular among the Rave crowd. No surprise there.

The little lights don’t look like much but they’re pretty cool. They are mini finger flashlights. There is a small rubber band that slips over your finger. When we ordered these from Amazon they had mixed reviews. Most people liked them but the common complaint seemed to be that some of the lights didn’t work. They came in bulk so we expected a few duds.

The box arrived shortly before it was time to pick up the boys from school. I couldn’t get a single one to light up. I was ticked! We didn’t have enough rings for an entire class. What were we going to do? When I came home I examined the lights again. That’s when I realized that if you slide the button rather than just push on it, the light comes on! Color me embarrassed. At least they worked. We found one or two duds but the rest were fine.

Gavin announced that he didn’t want to send Valentines this year and that fourth graders can choose not to. This was the day after we ordered everything from Amazon. I was on Gavin’s side but I wish we had known earlier so we didn’t order so much. As we sat in the parking lot waiting for the other scouts to arrive for the carpool, the boys came up with a good solution. They suggested I keep the extras for Parker’s class next year. Hmm good thinking.

We still decided to mix the rings and lights. Now we have five leftover rings and like 20 lights. The cards were handmade by moi. I found my most neon colored cardstock and cut it into 4×6 rectangles. Then I handwrote all 30 messages. Given that I don’t have the nicest handwriting in the world unless I really try hard, I think I did a lovely job. Parker did finish the last card for me. I hadn’t gotten to Girl before the doorbell rang so he wrote it for me.

Parker did write to and from on the back of each card with all the names of his classmates, including his teacher. But he was not interested in helping me tape anything on the cards. I did all of that. Then I put them all in a sack for him to take to school tomorrow. He thanked me for doing it but still. I told him I expected to get all his candy tomorrow for my efforts. He thought I was joking! So I countered with half and he took the offer! Not much of a negotiator that one.

Gwen is bummed that it’s not a minimum day at school nor does her daddy get the day off of work. You could see it in her face – then what’s the point of this stupid holiday! You’re preaching to the choir, sister. Gavin is convinced the purpose of Valentine’s Day is for people to make themselves sick. Heath said, “What, with all the kissing?” Whatever the point is, we’re finally ready for it. Bring on the conversation hearts and chocolate baby.