Valentine’s Day for Tweens Is Awkward (So I Tried to Make It Easier)
I remember when Valentine’s Day was easy.
I would get store-bought cards with funny doodles and characters, grab some candy hearts and send my kids off to do their thing. But when I showed my kids the cards I was thinking of getting this year I was met with eye rolls and groans, “that’s for babies mom!”
Ooof! Here we go again.
As a mom of preteens, my children are 10 and 12, I am constantly searching for products that are not for babies but are also not too grown. And for Valentine’s Day this is especially tricky.
Cards can have hearts but the hearts can’t be too red or too pink. It can say something funny but it can’t be cringe, and anything remotely romantic is an automatic, “No!”
So I went looking for cards that would fit the criteria: friendly but not gushy, not babyish, not trying too hard. Basically, “Happy Valentine’s Day because school does this, now let’s move on.” Of course I couldn’t find anything I felt was just right. So I did what any member of the “Team Do Too Much” parents would do, I made my own.
I want my kids to participate in the class Valentine’s Day thing and not feel out of place. Sure we could just opt out but where’s the fun in that?
I made the cards based on some of the phrases I thought would be age appropriate but still fun. Then I asked my daughter if I was missing anything she thought would be cute and surprisingly she was completely on board. She loved the ones I had already created and even suggested a few more ideas. By the end I had a set of 16 totally unique, Tween approved Valentine’s Day Cards.
My 10 year old daughter loves them.
My almost 9 year old niece said she needs them ASAP.
And my 12 year old son chuckled – the universal 12 year old boy sign of approval.
The plan is pretty simple, print them on card stock and let the kids hand them out to whoever they want during the school celebrations.
If you’re also parenting in the land of eye rolls and “that’s for babies” these might make Valentine’s Day feel a little easier.
I’ll leave a link to my Stan Store HERE
And if you do end up using them, be sure to come back and let me know how it lands with your kids.