Well, here we are – still getting creative on how to enjoy holidays in strange and challenging times. Our family is trying to get a little more creative this year when it comes to Valentine’s Day fun. Clients continue to tell me how their teams and employees are struggling with mental health. Maintaining a positive mental attitude is so important but can also very difficult right now. One of the best prescriptions for improved mental health is FUN!

My husband and I have been married for almost 22 years, and we officially have one teen and one pre-teen. This makes for an interesting blend of ages and interests during the holidays! It also creates different definitions of fun. We have to create experiences that we all enjoy, which can be tricky. Our family agreed to try the following:

1. Throw a Chocolate Party

Many moons ago, my husband and I had dinner at a local winery for Valentine’s Day-it was marvelous!! We are making an attempt to replicate this in a much easier way this year. I am not much of a chef; however, we are going to attempt to include chocolate in every dish! This is the perfect weekend to break out my fondue pot and dip lots of different items into some melted chocolate. And, we are going to make chocolate spaghetti Yes, it is a thing – and, it is delicious – I hope!

2. Create and Serve a Signature Beverage

I love to create new cocktails using whatever we have around this house. Good news- I still have some frozen cranberry slush from Christmas! We were supposed to go to my Dad’s so I made over a gallon of the stuff; then, we ended up staying home due to a COVID exposure. It’s time to turn lemons (or cranberries in this case) into lemonade! There is both an an adult and kid-friendly version so everyone can enjoy!

3. Binge Watch Family Videos and Photos

We have 1,000s of videos and pictures that are stuck in the cloud, on disks and in phones. It is well below freezing outside, so instead of watching Netflix – we are going to watch our family history and memories instead!

4. Blend Pictionary with Charades

My parents always believed that a family who plays together, stays together. We like to take board games next level in our house, so we get out a giant white board with Pictionary cards and draw while also using a dose of charades for clues when the drawings just aren’t cutting it.

5. Add to the Futures Capsule

I can feel us all getting a little tired of the COVID and the cold, so we are going to get into gratitude and show thanks for the wonders of life while also adding to our Futures Capsule. Instead of adding items and memories that represent the past, we create writings and ideas of what we want in the future. These include drawings, lists, goals, pictures, etc. The Futures Capsule allows us to dream while also creating family conversations focused on what we would like to do, explore, be and achieve. It’s an effective way of communicating with young adults who usually answer their parents with “stuff” or “things” when asked about their day.

Let us know about the fun ideas you have for Valentine’s Day!

Go Wild with Fun,

Dr. Connie