Here is the thing, since Franky and I got married over ten years ago, we never celebrated Valentine’s Day. I am not going to lie; I have an “old-school” attitude about holidays, traditions, and saving money. I would always be in the mode of all these holidays to take your money so commercialized. However, a lot of that changed when I had kids, and I would love to do fun arts and crafts with them and take them to all the fun places for the holidays. I still would call it some “commercialized trap” and make it my truth.
I struggled with finding balance, teaching them what I wanted to teach them as a mother, our cultural and religious beliefs, and just wanting to go with the flow when all these different experiences came around. I felt I was half in and half out with my decisions as a mom. I felt like I needed to be more confident. I recently told them we would do a “Love Wall” for Valentine’s day, and they all said, “really, mom?”. The stares I got from everyone were priceless. My husband said, “since when do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?” At that moment, I realized that just because you change the way you do something doesn’t change who you are; it was a way for me to step into my truth. I was doing it because I love arts and crafts, and well, Valentine’s day is right around the corner, so why not?
Change is not always easy, but I encourage you to embrace change during your journey through motherhood; you will flourish into becoming your most authentic self and be free; you will no longer feel that tugging in your spirit. I am making the right choice. Trust yourself. Trust your instinct, and most of all, accept that you can change your thoughts and beliefs without looking back.
One of BMC’s Contributors, Claudia, share some really cool Valentine’s Day Activities and crafts post, and I was inspired to create what she calls the “Love Wall.” I put my own spin on it, this time. I want to share how much joy it filled my heart and what a wonderful experience it was to do with the entire family! Even my husband did it! I hope to inspire you not to be afraid to change, just to fit in, or to care about what others think about you. If you don’t show up for yourself, then who will? That is when you are on your way to honoring who you are and to chance to be free and not controlled by limiting beliefs and thoughts that hold you back from having complete joy and happiness.
Here is a quick overview of how we made ours!
Materials:
- 1 Poster Board
- Pack of Post it notes ( a different color for everyone)
- Construction Paper ( for heart cut outs)
- Markers
- Scissors
- Led Lights (Optional)
Instructions:
- Each person picks a color they would like to use of the sticky notes
- Cut them out into heart shapes
- Each person is asked the question “What do you love most about _______?” and then they write it down. They are given a time frame for example 5 minutes per person.
- Everyone shares what they wrote, they are required to read it out loud, and then stick it on the poster board. That’s it!
The kids loved it and so did I! It was pretty fun to see what they came up with!
More love notes filled my heart with joy!
