Kei and I decided long ago that we wouldn’t buy into the commercialism of the holiday and so I can’t remember the last time we bought each other a Valentine’s gift.

As it happened this year, though, Valentine’s was thrust upon us – and we were willing participants for the most part.

Part 1: Valentine distribution at daycare and pre-school – a new tradition for an Aussie-raised schoolgirl. It was chaotic, it was stressful, it was last-minute. It is something that I had better suck up and accept because it’s not going away anytime school, although I am looking forward to the day when the boys will be able to write their own Valentine messages for their 25 classmates.

Part 2: A night out with my husband thanks to a little extra babysitting on Friday night courtesy of daycare. Now this one I was completely on board with. We went out for dinner and had one of the best meals I have had for a long time. It’s one of those meals that stay with you for days afterward – and not in a bad way. Follow that up with a chance to finally see Avatar in 3D, and it was the perfect evening.

Part 3: Hitting me over the head with it. We stopped to grab a hot chocolate for Thomas yesterday and it seemed the universe was speaking to me, so of course I took a photo.

I suppose there’s really no escaping it. Happy Valentine’s day.