Jessie came home from school with an order form for carnations to be delivered to the students on Valentine’s Day. I love this idea. The children can give flowers to their friends or family can send flowers to the children. I couldn’t wait to share the carnation news with all the grandparents. The grandparents were completely on board and just as excited as I was.
Grammy and PaPa each gave Jessie one flower and a lovely note. Grandma decided that because Jessie is three then the toddler should have three flowers. She made that decision for Grandpa too. My parents also each emailed a lovely note for me to write on the form. I had to edit Grandpa’s message down because the line was short and the space to write was small. Daddy and I shared a note and two flowers. I sent the form and the check to school with Jessie last week.
Today is Valentine’s Day and I didn’t tell Jessie that anything special was going to happen at school today. Last Friday when her class was having a party, I told her that she was going to have a party at school and a lot of fun. I walked Jessie to her teacher and then went to the front office to correct my math error and give more money.
When I came back later to pick up Jessie from school she was clutching a bunch of flowers wrapped in a wet paper towel and in a plastic bag with her name. She was so happy. I wish we had given her more flowers.
One of Jessie’s classmates was crying at pickup. She hadn’t gotten any flowers. I’m afraid that flowers will become another hurtful popularity contest. Next year we should buy enough so the whole class can have a flower.