Our constant valentine

Two years ago things were different.
We didn’t celebrate today because you don’t support commercialism.
I have learnt to live with that.
We did however enjoy each other’s company over a quiet dinner out. It was just the two of us.
There was no bath time routine to tend to, no chaotic mess to clean up and no finger food to prepare.
We could celebrate in peace.
We could talk uninterrupted.
We could give each other our unwavering attention.
We didn’t know it back then but that was the last Valentine’s Day we could enjoy together in that way.

This year we share the day with our daughter.
Tonight’s celebrations will be spent at home. There will be no shared dinner. We will feed her and, when we can, eat our own meals.
One of us will bath her while the other cleans up and then we will sit down to read her a bedtime story.
It will be the most relaxing part of the evening.
I will then attempt to put her to bed while you do some work.
The joint goal will be to have an early night together, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. It’s always the goal these days.

Nothing will go to plan. I will be stuck underneath her as she falls asleep on my arm and you will get caught up on the phone.
By the time we finally get to bed, any discussion will be short lived. She will cry and the night will be spent in seperate beds as we all navigate through the current teething stage.

Although there are no lavish meals, late nights or time for just us this year, every day now is better than any Valentine’s Day before.
She is the girl who made you a father, me a mother and us parents.
She is a symbol of our love together and each day when we spend time with her is a reminder of the same.
She is our constant valentine.