How to Help Your Child Cope With Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day can be stressful, especially for shy or sensitive children. The following tips will make it easier for your child to cope with this special holiday.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Valentine's Day Greeting Cards
• Glitter
• Heart-shaped Cookie Cutters

1. Ask your child's teacher about the classroom "protocol" for the occasion. Do all the children exchange valentines, or is it a matter of individual choice? If you know what to expect, you will be able to prepare your child for the situation, as well as the possible emotional aftermath.

2. Help your child choose, write and sign valentines for friends and classmates, and ask if he or she wants to get or make a special valentine for anyone ' a close friend or relative, parent or grandparent.

3. Organize a special craft or activity to help your child get into the spirit of Valentine's Day. You could make valentines together, or make a special gift for a teacher or grandparent. One fun and easy project for kids of all ages is gluing pretty beads or buttons onto a heart-shaped base to make a Valentine's Day pin or pendant.

4. Offer your child a special breakfast on Valentine's Day ' how about some heart-shaped food? Just use a heart-shaped cookie cutter on pancakes, waffles or even toast!

5. Bake or buy a special valentine cookie or cupcake for your child's lunch on the special day, or just tuck an "I love you!" note or card into his or her lunchbox along with some candy hearts.

6. Comfort a child who comes home sad because he or she didn't get as many valentines as someone else, or didn't get the one he or she really wanted. Help your child focus on the valentines he or she did get, and the value of the friends who gave them.

7. Plan something fun for the evening of Valentine's Day to end the day on a positive note. This could be a special supper of your child's favorite food, a Valentine's Day cake for dessert, or an after-dinner trip to the ice-cream parlor.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask your child's teacher for a class list so you can be sure no one is left out.
• Get a couple of good children's books that deal with Valentine's Day, to help your child get comfortable with the concept.
• Remind your child that other people are often shy, too, and that even the people who care about us aren't always brave enough to send a valentine!
• If you have recently moved to a new neighborhood with a new school, Valentine's Day may be even more challenging, since your child will still be getting to know new classmates. It may take a bit of extra effort to make the day fun and special.