Valentine's Day for Parents on a Budget

Are you a loving parent, but can't remember the last Valentine's Day that you were able to spend away from the wee ones and alone with your loved one? Are you afraid of taking that step away from the kids and breaking the bank in the process? Have no fear; thrifty, romantic ideas are here!

About this time the vast majority of readers and skeptics are probably thinking to themselves "A romantic V. Day for my honey and me? How could this be? Little Timmy and Suzy interrupted me just five minutes ago!" (or some variation thereof). Rest assured! It can be done.

One way to help parents have a great Valentine's Day is to allow the children to be involved in some aspect of it. If children do not feel that they are being completely excluded, then they will probably feel better, and be more cooperative about, either letting the parents have alone time later on in the evening, or having a sitter care for them while the parents go out on the town.

One way in which to involve children is to make Valentine's Day cards for each other instead of purchasing them, allowing the children to help make the cards. They don't necessarily need to see all of the intimate words and poetry that you'd like to put in for your loved one to cherish, but they can assist in the decoration (and even the delivery) of the cards. They can help with decoration, such as applying glue and sprinkling on glitter or stickers that you want to use for decoration.

One other great way for children to feel they've had some involvement in the festivities is to make them their own special dinner or snack earlier in the day. Cookies or cupcakes are always a big hit with kids! If you are health-conscious and want the little ones eating too many sugary snacks, a heart shaped fruit tray with red and pink-colored fruit would be a great treat for everyone to enjoy! If you're on a budget, this will be helpful as well as you can store the tray and reuse it again in future years. Inexpensive ones can usually be purchased at dollar or discount stores.

Still feel you want get out on your own but can't afford a sitter? One option if you're on a tight budget and can't afford a sitter is to find another family that you trust and form your own care-share. For instance, one set of parents can go out earlier in the day, for lunch or an early dinner, and the other can go out later in the evening. You can even split days if you're flexible on days. The children from the two families will probably enjoy spending the extra time with the other children, and may even enjoy making each other Valentine's Day cards!

In the end, parents don't have to completely forfeit their Valentine's Day, they just need to use a little bit of creativity and flexibility to have a memorable and enjoyable time!