Do you get your children anything for Valentines day

No, that's a really strange idea.

WTAF is this? Valentine's Day is for sending anonymous cards to a secret love.

Sometime in the 90's it became about smug couples sending each other the contents of Clinton Cards and restaurants putting up their prices which was ridiculous enough but getting gifts and cards for children?! Seriously?

It's the same as other occasions though - I haven't succumbed to the Christmas boxes or elf on the shelf (or buying a bloody Stanley which seems to be the current focus..). Parents just need to say 'all families are different' and move on if friends are marking traditions differently.

Any excuse I guess but no I don’t and partner and I don’t participate either. It’s not a big deal, I think if people want to then that’s a nice thing they want to do I’d never judge someone else if it’s what makes them happy

I think what we can take away from this post is that we must never ever buy our children chocolate or sweets on February 14th.
No special breakfasts are to be made either.

Are we allowed to say I love you to them on 14th or is that weird too?

I've got my daughter a card from the cat and a little ty teddy she will love.

It is commercial and soppy but I like how it's now just a celebration of love and kindness.

I also remember being age 8 or 9 and wishing someone would send me a little card to tell me they loved me and never getting one. As an adult I don't care so much and I don't need a card from husband to tell me he loves me. It may be a card from the cat but DD knows it's me really and it will make her happy and I've spent less than £5 total.

I've also got some love heart shaped crumpets from breakfast because they are cute!

I sometimes made them daft things…heart shaped toast for breakfast or one year put paper red hearts that I'd cut out in their chair at breakfast.

I was a single parent so added a bit of fun!

No. We only take part in the main celebrations: Christmas, birthdays and Pancake Day.

I don't have kids but I can imagine that if suddenly some kids start showing off their new stuff after VD, kids whose parents don't get them anything may feel a bit left out.
And eventually it's more pressure on parents (ahem...mums actually) to buy buy buy buy, and more tat that ends up in landfills.

Ah shit I'm going to have to apologise to my family for kicking off the 'kitchen grooming' when I made a card to tell my parents I love them. I have when I accidentally groom people. Somehow my sister and I aren't scarred for life from getting cards and small chocolates from our parents on V Day though.
If tradition is important, Valentine was originally associated with courtly love. I'm assuming the majority of people celebrating today don't live at court so we've all bastardised it ove the years. He's also (as I shared in the last post about this) patrin saint of bee keepers and epilepsy if people really want to celebrate his day 'properly' tomorrow.

No, but I might share my chocs if I get some or if it's flowers DS can admire them

It doesn't need to be about romantic love.

My daughter will get a special breakfast and a little box of treats - new animal stuffed toy, a book, some valentines sweets and some hair clips. She loves it!

We love celebrating occasions - especially in winter. Helps to break up the grey days!

Not sure why everyone is against it - it is not very different if I took her to Smyths and bought her some toys/books!

No!

Don't make this a thing or we'll end up with "Valent-vent' advent calendars and stupid matchy matchy PJ'S for all the family.

This was an old Norfolk tradition which we still do today. It was so exciting to go to the door and there was no one there but a pile of presents!

"Under the cover of darkness, Jack Valentine will silently leave small trinkets on your doorstep before knocking and hiding unseen. Sometimes there might be no gift at all (or even a piece of coal or meaningless scribble). Other times, just as you go to pick it up, it’ll suddenly be whisked playfully away and out of reach by an invisible piece of string! Some say this is his counterpart Snatch Valentine at work.
We may not know who Jack Valentine is, but his mischievous ways are still passed down generation to generation for a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Eve."

I'm sorry, what?!?
Kids have Xmas, what would they also have Valentine's day?
For me VD is about 1) romantic love and 2) having sex

Yep, I get something for all 4 of mine and my husband will buy a little bunch of flowers for our daughter. I normally do them a cute breakfast too, they love it. My DH and I will probably have a meal deal from either M&S or Waitrose.

My 19 year old is in his first relationship and has booked a table at a restaurant and has organised for flowers to be delivered. I like to think that’s a little bit down to us making Valentines a fun occasion for all these years 😂

Yes always usually a card and a small gift.

No, why would you?

I’m in my 50s and we used to get a card from our DGM’s cat and a chocolate heart or something similar 😂

Valentine’s Day was more for young single people when I was a kid, mostly teenagers and young adults. The “tradition” of couples celebrating Valentine’s Day is quite recent and wasn’t really a big thing when I was a child (in the UK). It was more about finding love. The much older tradition was to send anonymous cards to people you “liked” and that was still the predominant tradition. Valentine’s cards were meant to be left unsigned. It was all about how many Valentines you got when I was a teen 🙄

The “tradition” of celebrating romantic love with your partner is just as much a recent commercialised marketing ploy as buying Valentines gifts for kids 🤷‍♀️

This 😂

I never did growing up as it was - is - a celebration of romantic love and therefore not for kids.

My siblings and colleagues are all buying Valentines boxes for their kids, though - stuffed full of pink and red gifts (have seen the pics). The worst is the one who’s also doing a Galentines Day box for her girl children - she’s spent a fortune on it all.

I think it’s weird that adults can’t have anything to themselves because everything now revolves around kids, and consumerism gone mad to boot, but what do I know?

I agree with this.
When I was married I thought it was not a bad thing for the kids to see Mum and Dad having a day where just they exchange cards and make a bit of a fuss of each other. I didn't make a point of it or anything.
I guess it's akin to kids learning that they don't get a present on their sibling's birthday.

No. I think it's important that kids don't get something on every occasion.
Valentine's is not about kids.

We don't, neither of us like it.

Of course not. That is absolutely crazy!

I was looking at valentines cards yesterday and was astounded at the ridiculousness of some of them. Valentines cards for daughters, "Galentines" cards...WTF are they?

Such nonsense