World Citizen Wednesdays #14: Valentine’s Day

Welcome to World Citizen Wednesday!

Each week we pose a question to members of the fabulous Multicultural Kid Blogs group and share their answers here.

To find out more about these amazing bloggers, check out the Multicultural Kid Blogs Facebook page. And watch for our group website, coming soon!

I was not quite prepared for the often negative memories that this week’s prompt evoked for many of our members.  Is Valentine’s Day a cheery, fun holiday or not? Judge for yourself!

This week we ask:

Did you celebrate Valentine’s Day growing up?  If so, how?

Annabelle of the piri-piri lexicon: Never. I remember my mum saying that Valentine’s day was for people in love. Real love is something adults feel. You may like someone as a child/teenager but it is not the same. Her words – not mine!

Cordelia of Multilingual Mama: I hated it. I lived the Charlie Brown valentines. School cards, never any for me.

Alyson of World Travel Family: No, never. I hated it. I think I’m still traumatised by V Day as a kid…scary! I thought everyone was getting Valentine’s day cards except me. In reality, I don’t think anyone was getting cards. My husband and I have never bothered with it.

Olga of The European Mama: Me, neither. But my friend’s grandmother used to celebrate Valentine’s day by calling everybody in the family and telling them that she loved them! I thought it was cute.

Varya of Little Artists: Never. It was a “capitalist” holiday, just as Christmas was. Plus Valentine’s Day became more International in the past 15-20 years or so. We still don’t celebrate it.

Lynn of The Diary of a Nomad Mom: I did and looking back I remember being very stressed out about which boy to send a valentine card to….and whether or not he would return my sentiments.

Carrie of Crafty Moms Share: We did. My family always exchanged cards and we did class valentines when we were in elementary school (everyone gave one to everyone in class). As I got older the valentines became only for good friends or significant others.

Aisha of Hartlyn Kids: My mother always got me a gift and thinks it is strange that I don’t do the same for my daughter now. Also in school, we did exchange Valentine’s – now this I did last year. My daughter made valentines for her whole class which we enjoyed doing together.

Amy of International Book Giving Day: I have good memories of decorating a box to bring to school for classmates to put Valentine’s in. I also really enjoyed purchasing store bought Valentines. My family did not consume much, and purchasing store bought Valentines for classmates felt like a big treat.

Frances of Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes: I’m in the same boat as Amy. I have good memories, but it was mostly “store bought” cards to exchange with classmates. It was fun going through all the cards, and some candy, too!

Jody of Mud Hut Mama: I loved Valentine’s Day as a little kid. We would wake up to little sweets at our places on the table. Who wouldn’t love combining cereal and conversation hearts! Then we would have a party at school where we all exchanged Valentines. Everyone would have one for everyone in the class so it wasn’t until I was much older that there was any real angst around Valentines Day. I like to think that the fact that I almost never had any romantic prospects on Valentine’s Day was good character building.

Thanks to all the bloggers who shared their answers here! You can read answers to earlier questions in our previous installments of World Citizen Wednesday, including tips for traveling with kids!

Find out more about these wonderful bloggers by visiting our Facebook page, subscribing to our Facebook feed, following us on Twitter, or following our group Pinterest board! On Twitter, you can also find us by using the hashtag #multiculturalkids. And watch for our very own website, coming soon!