Holidays and special occasions look a little different at our house. 

My son Stalen, is 7 years old, amazing, autistic and non-speaking. He also has sensory and medical challenges. He isn’t interested in toys or most material things. His currency is one of time and love, a connection between hearts. 

We always enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day! It was a little difficult to find a way that Stalen could participate and have fun. He has a feeding tube so he doesn’t eat chocolate. He also has some developmental delays so he struggles with printing and writing out his Valentine’s. 

We were able to remedy that by having him print his name once and turning it into a stamp, so he stamps his Valentine’s with his printed name.

We have a tradition in our house that my son absolutely loves and its his favorite way to celebrate Valentine's Day! Starting on Feb.1 thru to Feb. 14, every day I put a heart on his bedroom door and write one thing that I love about him on the heart.

Every day he can’t wait to see what I love about him. It makes him so happy. I have also done this for my step-daughter when she was a teenager. She loved it as well!
It is relatively inexpensive and takes only a couple of minutes. Who doesnt love to hear great reasons why you are loved?

It is such a fun way to boost your child’s self esteem and confidence, no matter their age.

Once Valentine’s Day is over, we leave the hearts up for a month or more, they become cute decor and a reminder to our child that he is SO loved!

Today’s heart, “You have the BEST smile!”