Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

This year's Valentine's Day started with a little surprise from Temesgen in the morning - he had a nice card and little present set on the table for me.... With a little one running and us chasing, every day passes so quickly and it is sometimes hard to take a moment to appreciate our partners. I am glad we did, and I hope you had some time to smell the roses with your loved ones, as well.

So here comes Miss Misha, enjoying the very best Valentine's Day - spending a whole day with PJ! The two teachers for Toddler I class (10 kids) at her daycare organized the pajama party and we, parents, brought some things for the class. I stopped by in the afternoon and saw all the kids having fun eating cupcakes, grapes, cookies..... Nice sweet Valentine's, really! They even went home with a goodie bag. I told Temesgen how the party went, and he asked me "Why kids for Valentine's Day?" Hmmmm..... I don't know! Because they are sweet!?! Maybe some of our American friends can answer this question - is it common to celebrate Valentine's Day with kids in America? Did you grow up celebrating it?

保育所でバレンタインを祝うミーシャ。先生たちがパジャマ・パーティーを開催。10人の子供たちはみんなパジャマで一日を過ごし、おやつにバレンタインのお菓子を楽しみました。クラスのお友達（のママ達ね、実際は）がミーシャの名前が入ったカードやケーキをくれました。

In Japan, Valentine's Day is the day when women give chocolate to men, which even include male coworkers (this custom is nicknamed 'Obligation chocolate'). But most importantly, this is typically one of the few days in the year when women, especially teenage girls, have an opportunity to 'confess' their love to someone. I remember back in the high school days, quite a few girls were waiting for their favorite boys in the morning at subway stations - all had nicely-wrapped chocholates and nice cards. Some popular guys, like baseball players, received dozens of them on Valentine's Day. So who enjoyed those chocolate? I bet it was their mothers and sisters!