5 Tips to Celebrate Valentine's Day when it Falls on Ash Wednesday

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Well would you look at that! This year Valentine's Day falls on Ash Wednesday. How are you supposed to celebrate when you need to be fasting? My kids are in shock that we won't be indulging in candy.  I am going to share with you my thoughts with five hopfully helpful tips to navigate this situation.

1. Celebrate the night before with a St. Valentine Family Party. This could be blended nicely with a Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday celebration. You could make heart shaped pancakes, decorate and exchange cards. I was thinking about putting a little twist on a King cake by using a heart shaped cake pan like this one Nordic Ware Elegant Heart Bundt Pan

3. Host a St. Valentine Dance the night before. (Great for older kids and the grown ups too)

2. Just becuase you won't be feasting on Ash Wednesday doesn't meant you can't show a little love in other ways. Showing how you care for others is a great way to prepare for Lent. Doing small acts of kindness for family and friends is  perfectly appropriate even making and exchanging cards. This would be a fantastic time to talk about Jesus and how much he loved us by giving His life for us. I have an old post with a free crucifix Valentine printable here.

4. While some of the littlest ones may not be fasting, you can put out something simple with lunch or for snack. Cut strawberries in half to look like hearts. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts from silices of cheese and other veggies or bread. You can cut baby carrots and cherry tomatoes diagonnally and place them together in the shape of a heart.

5. Make a simple veggie love soup for dinner and possibly serve it up with some simple home baked bread like ones you can find in this e-book Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads

Looking for some Valentine or Lenten printables? Check out these available in my Etsy Shop.

What are some of the ways you observe Ash Wednesday? 

We had a priest once who prefered complete silence after reception of the ashes, this included no gathering afterwards like soup etc. I really like the opportunity to collect in silence, a kind of centering as we enter the Lenten Season. I liked this little tradition and hope to continue with the Ash Wednesday silence as I try to tune out the world and be with God. There of course is only so much tuning out you can do with a bunch of kids, but I plan on making Ash Wednesday a no device kind of day and keep activities down to minimum.