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Gratitude & Appreciation Hearts

We all know February 14 is Valentines Day. What if there was a way to spread out the love and appreciation all month long?  What if we could use the opportunity to teach our kids the value of kind words?  Well last year I found some card-stock paper hearts at the Target Dollar Spot that I thought would make cute Valentines statements, kind of like conversation hearts, but bigger and they can be saved.

So starting February 1st I began to decorate the bedroom doors of my kids and my own bedroom door for my husband with hearts.  Every day I added a heart.  Statements like you are kind, you give good hugs, and you are helpful adorned our doors.  Pointing out strengths like you are good at science or even silly things like you are cooler than Batman.

For my husband it was a good time to say thanks for taking such good care of us, thanks for being a good dad.  And also to celebrate things like loyalty, patience and for being supportive.

Before long my kids asked for hearts to write on and I had to go out and buy a few more packages.  They wrote hearts to each other and to myself and my husband.  For kids who can’t write yet, drawing a picture could get their idea across. 

It was a wonderful month and we plan on doing it again this year.  The kids hopped out of bed each morning to check and see what the new heart said.  For us parents it was also nice to hear the kids appreciate things that we do for them.  I feel like it was a good activity to teach them gratitude and appreciation.  Also to teach them the value and weight that words hold, so why not spread love?  For myself I feel like it reminded me that my words can build my children’s self esteem up!  Sometimes it’s easy to forget to say I’m proud of you or you did great on that math test.  We can take it for granted.  But it’s always nice to hear.  For only a few dollars I felt like the value we got out of it was immeasurable. 

Theresa W
Author: Theresa W

Theresa is a wife and stay at home mother of 2 boys, David (13) and Aiden (10). Her hobbies include traveling, reading, running, cooking and volunteering at MI Humane Society with the adoptable cats. She also spends her free time serving as PTO President at her son's elementary school. She enjoys being active and is proud to have completed 4 marathons. She loves to share her passion for health and fitness with others.