Caleb experienced his first Valentine's Day in America, and it has been an eye-opening experience for both of us. We've been working on valentines for quite a few days now since we belong to a homeschooling group of families who have adopted from China, and were participating in a valentines exchange of 36 valentines via the U.S. mail. Unlike Ben and Micheline who fizzled out pretty fast, Caleb worked long and hard on his valentines and proudly showed me each one when it was finished.

We also belong to a local homeschooling group and had to have 100 valentines per child to give away at our park day yesterday. Needless to say, I decided those would be the purchased ones where all we had to do was add a name under the "from" area.

Caleb chose Ninja turtles and Spiderman for those valentines, and for some reason was more emotionally attached to them than the ones he made by hand. We got ready to leave for the park and I made the mistake of dumping his valentines into a bag so he would have his decorated box empty to receive valentines. He thought I was taking them away from him and came unglued, shouting "Wo de!" (Mine!) We had to take the other kids' valentine boxes and set them down on the floor and pantomine giving each other valentines before he would calm down. A Chinese friend had explained Valentine's Day to him over the phone, but I guess he wasn't clear on how it all worked. He had enjoyed making them and wasn't quite sure about this holiday where he had to turn around and give them up. I think this valentine made by a sibling sums up how Caleb was feeling.



At the park when we were ready to exchange valentines, all the children set out their valentine boxes and started dropping their valentines in each. Ben and Micheline excitedly participated, but Caleb still wasn't certain that he wanted to give his up just yet. He hung back and watched the other children for at least 10 minutes, with his fist tightly around the plastic bag that held the cherished Ninja Turtles. I noticed him watching his own box fill up, and I guess when he finally decided that what he was receiving was worth the trade-off, he started passing his out. After he had passed out about 20, he started smiling and then laughing and calling my name, wanting me to watch him.

Continued...