Monday, February 09, 2009



I have written about 1,046 posts by now and I guess that I am getting BRAIN DEAD on writing!! I just cannot come up with anything from that gray matter between my ears....But today I have been thinking about Valentine's Day when I was young!!

We so looked forward to it!! It was a very special day. I went to a very small school in the country. We had 6 grades in our school...two in each room!! I remember being in the 4th or 5th grade and filling out valentines. I always PICKED or should I say HAND picked every one for every person. We only had about 10 or so kids in each class.

We would bring a shoe box or something like that. We would decorate it and put a slit on the top and of course also our name..We would line them up along the side of the class room. On that big day we would bring in our hand addressed valentines and put them in the slits.

I would try to watch to see who put them into my box...hoping that the boy that I liked would give me one..I remember getting one that came in the mail from a boy friend that I really liked and guess what....he put in a piece of Juicy Fruit gum!! (...how sometimes I cannot remember names but can remember something as little as a piece of gum!!) Course then that made me very happy and also made me feel very special too!!

I wish that kids today would have as much fun!! Oh my little grands here in Savannah are wondering about what their boy/girl friends will give them but now they go into big presents. I asked them if they were having a party and they said no that they did not think so...They are missing out on so much fun..

Our mothers would come in with food...homemade of course!! They would make some of the best stuff and we would have a fun time...We then would take our shoe boxes home and go through the great cards that we received..now I wish that I had kept some of them. I do have one if I could just find it.

Also see the picture above...The valentine people in the back were always so much fun to make..Keep cutting out the red hearts on construction paper and make their tails as long as possible. Back then I did not get to use things like construction paper except at school...Now kids have everything at home..but we didn't. I guess that was why school was so much fun for me...I got to do things that I would not ever get to do at home...Funny how i just thought about that..Really we did not have things at home like construction paper because it was too expensive. WE just did with what we had and did not go and buy things that we really did not need.

Today I think that is what is wrong with kids...they have entirely too much!!

I hope that you have some fond memories of Valentine's Day!! I know that I always looked so forward to it as a kid..NOW well now I guess it is just another day...after all I have been married 45 years!! Smile!1

Have a great Monday and share your memories if you can...

Flip Flop
Thought for the day:"Maybe the happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way!!"

16 comments:

Melli said...

Yep! We had the exact same kind of Valentine parties at my school too. I guess we all did back then! But my kids even still had Valentine parties. Maybe the grands aren't having one this year because it's on Saturday? Have they had them in the past? Oh I would hate to think that Luz will never have a Valentine party! That would be too sad! I DO believe with you that kids have TOO much these days!

Hootin Anni said...

I remember those shoe box valentine boxes and how we all looked forward to the parties at school with punch, and cookies decorated for the day in pinks and reds. It was a good part of life. Thanks for the memory.

And thanks for the special birthday wishes you left for me today.

SmilingSally said...

Even though my class was larger, I have the same memories as you. I took a valentine, carefully chosen for each child and signed by me, along with my decorated shoebox with the slit. I loved Valentine's Day.

Schools today often forbid teachers from allowing parties as so many students are diabetic or allergic.

Mary said...

Sandy,

I'm glad you enjoyed my post about Valentine's Day. Yours is great.

We never made the shoe boxes. The teacher made one huge box and all the Valentine's went into it and were drawn later.

I feel sorry for the kids today. Everything is politically correct and if they give one Valentine, they have to give one to every child in the class. I guess it's so no one feels left out. No longer can mothers make goodies to take to parties in our schools. The treats all have to be purchased from bakeries or grocery stores. It's kind of sad.

Take care, my friend and have a wonderful week.

Blessings,
Mary

Baba said...

Hi Sandy, I remember having a decorated cigar box to hold my valentines from school parties...my grands in Atlanta still have a Valentine party at school with great snacks made by moms!!!

We will be leaving Atlanta after lunch today.. I am never in a hurry to leave my family..

We never had half of the things that the kids nowadays have available for them... they are spoiled in that they get anything they want !!!

See you soon. Hugs, barb

Anonymous said...

Boy Sandy, did that bring back some memories. I had forgotten all about the shoebox we took to school to decorate, then I prayed I would get some cards in mine.

Hugs,
Chris

Deare Diary said...

What a fun post to read. Ditto on the Valentines Day party memories. My sister hid the one that was supposed to be for a boy in her class that she did not like. Mom caught her hiding it and she got into trouble. HaHa Good memories.
Judy

Anonymous said...

This sure brought back memories for me. I loved Valentine's Day. We always had one large decorated box that everybody put their valentines that they had addressed to their classmates in. At the Valentine party someone would take all the valentines out and pass them out. The only problem with this was that some kids got a whole pile of valentines and others got very few. We always had homemade goodies too. I don't think it would be as much fun going to school now.
Thanks for the memories.
Charlotte

Zaroga said...

A very fun post, Sandy. I think instead of shoe boxes we decorated white paper bags and hung them along the wall for the valentines to be placed in. I used to have one valentine from way back.. think it is from my sister, but where is it?...

Denise said...

I loved this post.

Jane said...

Yep, our Valentine's Day stuff was very much the same. We decorated shoe boxes to hold all the valentines we would get. It was always fun to pick out the right card for everyone. Fond memories!!

Lazy Daisy said...

Those were the days when you gave a valentine to every one in the class. I miss those innocent days. Miss you babe.

Denise said...

Those are such sweet memories and they bring back smiles....... I wish that I had kept those boxes of cards........ We could all use a smile now and then from yesteryear...... and as for the blog..... OMG....... I have just 300 under my belt...No idea what it will be like to have over 1000........... but I am so glad you are still here.....

Deanna said...

What a great post! I love the class picture!
I don't remember having Valentine parties at school. We won't even go there.
In our house, Bill does Valentine's Day for all his girls! He's so cute. It's never huge or over the top, always just a sweet gesture from a great husband and wonderful father! This year we have to mail Dayna's Valentine from Dad since she's out in California.
Have a great day!

Decadent Housewife said...

Thanks for sharing your memories, brought back tons for me.

Carole Burant said...

Oh yes, I remember well decorating a shoe box to put our Valentine cards in and the party we would have at school. We left our boxes on our desks and the teacher would then make us walk desk to desk to put that person's Valentine in his/her shoe box. I also remember being in grade 6 and being so disappointed because this boy I liked from another class hadn't given me a Valentine...then just as I was leaving the school yard, he ran up to me, shoved something in my hand and ran off. It was a handmade Valentine with lots of kisses on it he had made for me! LOL He had been too shy to give it me all day! hehe As you say, kids these days have too much and just don't realize how much the simple things can mean so much more. xoxo