Our heads make a heart

This year Will got busy writing Valentines. He gave nearly 30 store-bought Valentines to all the pre-K children at his school and wanted to write his name and theirs on all of them. Many of the names ran over to two lines or had backwards Js and the like – but I’m pretty sure they got where they were supposed to go. Will also cut out and painted construction paper hearts for his aunt, uncle, grandparents, and great grandmas and insisted on writing his own messages in marker.

We didn’t realize until yesterday what he’d learned in the process of writing his Happy Valentines Day messages. As he was talking to my parents on the phone about the card he sent he told them he’d learned how to spell two words and began reciting them on the spot: H-A-P-P-Y and L-O-V-E. Rob and I were glad to realize that those words were the first he’d learned to spell (other than the names of our family). Good words to live by, whether you’re a kid or an adult. Today he wrote both words a few times over on sticky notes I’d left on the kitchen table. I’m not pushing writing or spelling on Will at all – just helping him do it as he asks. And I’d be content to let those two sweet words be the main ones Will writes for months to come.

But beyond spelling V-day words, Will, who obviously has a sweet spot for Valentine’s Day, has also been seeing hearts everywhere. He made a heart shape with his oatmeal yesterday morning and discovered a heart in a splash of Ranch dressing that had spilled onto the table at dinner tonight. And this morning, as he and I were sharing a hug, Will looked up and noticed our adjoined silhouettes on the bedroom wall. “Mom our heads are stuck together and they’re making a heart!” he said as he looked at the shadow of our hug. I think I was even more excited about that discovery than he was.