FEBRUARY - THE MONTH OF LOVE!!

February is the month of LOVE!!  I've become a little jaded through the years and my husband and I never really got into V-day gifts as we were always saving for something . . . houses, vacations, and so on and then the not giving became a habit.  We always do cards, both the funny kind and the ones that bring tears to your eyes.

But this year, February has extra meaning for me.  My son is getting married on February 8th!  I'm so excited.  He's marrying a lovely girl and they are just destined to be the perfect couple.  I'm looking

forward to the wedding as well because they live in Hawaii (I live in the Philadelphia 'burbs) so we don't see each other that often.


So, do you love this month or hate it?  I remember my first year of teaching at the high school level and I saw a bevy of my homeroom girls huddled and looking upset.  When I asked what was wrong, they said Valentine's Day was always humiliating because of a school fund-raiser.  The fund-raiser did very well.  For $0.50 you could buy a carnation, write a little note, attach it and it would be delivered to the recipient in homeroom.  Of course, some students had special someones who sent not just one but a dozen flowers.  But watching the process take place and not getting a flower was tantamount to announcing, NO ONE LOVES ME!

We sat down and brainstormed ways to change this.  One of the girls suggested that people should be able to buy them for friends, or buy them as thank-yous for teachers who had helped them.  In the end, they also decided they should all just buy themselves some flowers (the notes were sealed before being handed in for delivery) saving themselves humiliation.  But I was happy they decided to go for change instead that involved thanking those in the school who might not get noticed very often.  I watched the girls head to the student council meeting where they had decided they'd try out their ideas.

I don't know how other years went before that one, but that Valentine's Day it was great to see flowers in the cafeteria, the janitor's office, on secretaries' desks.  It was great to see so many kids carrying flowers and smiling.  There were tons of smiles that day.

I think the kids discovered that love can have other meanings beyond the typical boy/girl couple.  And I'm sure the fund-raiser doubled it's take.

So, are you a fan of Valentine's Day?  Love it or hate it?

Please return between February 12 and February 14th when I'll be celebrating Valentine's Day and LOVE by giving away ebook versions of my books.  Click here to enter..