The box with a hole

I love Valentines day! I love the hearts, the candy and the love notes. I even love making Valentine boxes. I pulled out all of my scrap book paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes and stickers and prepared to help Matthew make something spectacular. He pulled out his orange Nike box, a pair of scissors and jabbed at it until he made an opening.
"I just want a box with a hole," he said.
"But Matthew, you can't just bring a box with a hole...Let's decorate it to look FESTIVE!"
"No, Mom, I just want a box with a hole."
"But Matthew, I even bought these red plastic garbage cans you could use! You could just put a sign on it that says I won't be a grouch if you give me a Valentine. "
"Fine, you can put that sign....on my box with a hole."
"But Matthew, then it wouldn't even make sense..."
After a few minutes of dousing Matthew with my creative juices, we settled on.... a box with a hole. It is his box after all. And it was just the way he wanted it.

Luckily, I made my own Valentine mail box earlier this month. Every day we've been writing compliments to each other that we put it the mailbox. We raise the you've got mail flag then read them at the dinner table.
It makes me smile every time I look at my box and Matthew's box. They epitomize the difference between me and my boys. They'd rather use their creative juices to make the paper tanks that line the dinner table, next to my box. And you know what, that's just the way I like it.