Valentine cards in one evening

The exchange sneaks up every year

The note about the class Valentine exchange comes home on a Friday and the exchange is the following Tuesday. Somewhere in between you are supposed to produce a card for every classmate, ideally with something attached, ideally not candy because half the class list has a food note next to it. This is the exact evening our Valentine packs are molded for.

Attached beats taped

The classic version of this evening involves a bag of loose toys, a stack of cards and a roll of tape that runs out at card eleven. Our exchange cards come with the pop toy already fixed to the card, so the whole craft step is gone. What is left is the part only your kid can do, which is the names.

Set up a signing line

Put the class list on the table where both of you can see it. Your kid signs, you check the name off and stack the card. Working straight down the roster beats going from memory, because memory always skips the same two classmates and those are the two whose desks end up empty. Every name on the list gets a card, no favorites, no skips.

Stage the stack by the backpack

Finished cards go in a zip bag with the class list on top, and the bag goes next to the backpack that night. Cards left on the kitchen table have a way of still being on the kitchen table at nine the next morning. If your school runs desk mailboxes, the bag rides in as is and empties one card per box.

If your count is odd

Split classes, combined homerooms and a teacher or two can push your number past the pack. Check the Valentine shelf against your real list and take the size above it. Spare cards keep fine, and next February you will be the parent who finished on Sunday.