“Mom, I think I might have a Valentine.”
These words, uttered in a rather incredulous tone by an 8-year-old little boy as soon as he climbs into the backseat from the school carline, are enough to make any mama raise an eyebrow and sputter the afternoon coffee she’s sipping from her travel mug.
When my own son made this revelation on our ride home from school one day in early January, I had to glance in the rearview mirror to make sure that I had, in fact, picked up the right kid. A Valentine?? The same boy who vowed to never get married and instead live forever at home with his parents, covers his eyes during mushy scenes in Disney movies, teases his big sister relentlessly about the boys she thinks are cute on tween sitcoms and, at the first wedding he attended, unleashed a very audible “GROSS!” when the bride and groom kissed?
Yes, it was my boy, looking a bit wide-eyed and befuddled, but with a funny little half smile on his face.
I knew that rather than launch an immediate interrogation, I had to tread carefully in my handling of this sensitive subject, so as not to cause the respondent to shut down and give me the age-old “nevermind, Mom,” reply.
“Ok, Buddy. How come you just think you might have a Valentine?” My son took a long pause and I could tell he was pondering whether delving into the specifics of the day’s event was worth an insufferable round of “21 Questions” with his mother.
“Well … ”, he began, “We were out on the playground at recess and [girl’s name] came up to me and said, ‘Will you be my Valentine?’ and I told her yes, but the problem is that [boy’s name] was standing right beside me and he said yes, too, right at the same time and we couldn’t tell which one of us she was talking to!”
Cue the second time on the drive home that I almost spit out my coffee. “So, see?” he continued, “Now I don’t even know if I have a Valentine or not.”
When I’d finally composed myself after fighting like heck to contain my laughter, I dared to ask the question, “OK … so … why didn’t one of you just ask her?”
My son met the question with the same trademark exaggerated shrug that is so often his response to why he did or did not do something.
And so, that is the great Valentine’s conundrum that we are currently still facing.
My 2nd grader continues to wonder whether he should let curiosity get the best of him and try to determine if he was, in fact, the intended recipient of the Valentine invitation, or go with his inclination to just pretend like the whole thing never happened.
I continue to wonder what exactly a Valentine even is in the 2nd grade. It was my (perhaps misguided) impression that 8-year-old boys and girls are too busy spending every other day inoculating themselves against the cooties with “circle circle, dot dot” shots and stating their cases on who rules and who drools to pay much mind to the intricacies surrounding Feb. 14.
I have a feeling that my son doesn’t care much whether he has a Valentine or not and I figure that he has quite a few years to go before he actually does.
But you better believe that one girl already has an extra large, heart-shaped box of his favorite Sour Patch Kids Watermelon candies stashed away just in case he does care and that girl will always and forever be tickled pink to be his backup Valentine.
After all, who could love an 8-year-old little boy more than his own mama?
Read CityView Magazine’s “The Love Issue” February 2025 e-edition here
