Sucker

If you tint something red or pink or purple,
if you cover it with glitter,
if there are paper doilies involved in any way,
if there is shiny paper,
if there are earnestly drawn letters, stickers and hearts...

I am a sucker.

I'm a sucker most of the time anyway, but I'm really a sucker for paper confections of love and lots of glue.

My Hooligan crawled in bed with me this morning and the first words out of his mouth were: "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom! I love you." My jBird followed shortly afterward with the same greeting. I observed, a little nostalgically, that they have outgrown calling it "Valentime's Day." I still say that sometimes, just for fun. I'm mostly glad that they still crawl in bed with me and snuggle and that I am their Primo Valentino. Or would that be Prima Valentina?

Love (like gratitude, forgiveness, grace, joy, etc.) is one of those things that we should show abundantly every day and in whatever ways work and are possible for us. I'm all right with it having its own special day covered in glitter and ribbons and bows and chocolate, though. The same as I'm all right with gratitude having its own day wrapped in turkey. But, you know, like most holidays we have the whole money-making guilt machine that grinds up to full throttle and tempts you to believe that the love in your life is not enough, that you haven't done the right types of things to show it, or that you might need more diamonds. This is where I stick my fingers in my ears and sing: la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you!

Join me in a rousing chorus of that, please. Look around your real life with your own eyes. Not the eyes that you think you should have or that you think other people are using to view you, just yours. Do you see it? Do you see the love that is there? It doesn't look like mine, I'm sure. It doesn't express itself in the ways the TV commercials or the Pinterest boards say it should, probably. Maybe it doesn't wrap itself in cellophane and whipped cream, maybe it's a little tired, maybe it has had a rough month, but it's there. It's everywhere, you just have to have the right goggles on to see it. Sit with it, celebrate it in whatever way you see fit and stick your fingers in your ears and avert your eyes away from all the shoulds and coulds and woulds and appreciate the is.

But what do I know?

I'm a sucker.

I'm a sucker for the pinks and purples and reds and the glitter and doilies and hugs and red velvet and heart-shaped pizza and winks and grins and little tears of joy.

I'm off to the store now to surprise my barely-over-bronchitis monkeys with shiny red balloons and chalky conversation hearts.

Because I'm a sucker.

*If you're not much of a sucker, that's OK. Here are some other Valentine's posts from the past to entertain you: Cupid's Misfires and Chocolate: A True Story.

The Alphabet of My Recent Days

A is for Airborne Immunity Booster (for me)
B is for baths with eucalyptus oil.
C is for coughing, coughing, coughing. Also chamomille.
D is for Delsym because Mama finally busted out the big guns.
E is for eucalyptus steam.
F is for fever, fever, fever.
G is for grapefruit.
H is for honey.
I is for icy, frozen orange juice pops.
J is for juice of the orange.
K is for killing germs with Lysol and Clorox.
L is for lozenges that taste of elderberries.
M is for monkeys with lots of mucus.
N is for nights that are very, very long with the coughing and the fever.
O is for opening up airways. Also oranges. Lots and lots of oranges.
P is for prayers whispered into sweaty hair for comfort and healing for these miserable little people.
Q is for quiet that comes in the wee hours when the coughing finally stops for a while.
R is for rest - lots for them, little for me.
S is for steam inhalation.
T is for tea - peppermint, honey and ginger, lemon.
U is for under the weather.
V is for Vicks Vapo-Rub on tiny heaving chests.
W is for "WASH YOUR HANDS!"
X is for the X-rays of the chest.
Y is for yogurt to replenish the necessary bacteria.
Z is for zinc.

My jBird has bronchitis and we are waiting for the results of her pertussis test. She is missing her 7th consecutive day of school today. My Hooligan just went back to school yesterday after a week of being sick. There has been someone sick in my house since the last week in January. I am at the very end of my wits.