Valentine's Day and the Magic of the Kids' Table

Adults on left (check out those woven ribbons!) and kids on right (plastic silverware, yes, but also gift bags!)

As I'm sure you all remember, Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday this year, guaranteeing that restaurants would be even more hectic than usual. We're not big V-Day celebrators under any circumstances...and you couldn't pay me to go to a restaurant on the most lovey-dovey night of the year. I feel for people in the industry.

When we do celebrate Valentine's Day, it's usually with our friends. Alicia and Mike have hosted a couple Valentine's Day wine tasting parties that are so well-attended - we're obviously not the only ones not really into the holiday.

This year, we had dinner at our house. Nothing unusual or crazy - steak, potatoes, asparagus, hollandaise. Shrimp to start and cupcakes for dessert. Standard dinner-with-friends fare.

I did spend a little time on the table, though - and on the kids' table. As I know I've mentioned before, setting the table is one of my favorite things in the world. It combines so much of what I love about party-throwing - the anticipation, the pretty stuff, the orderly pre-party organization. I just love it.

Now that some of the kids in our friend group are older, I've started spending more time on the kids' table. I set up a couple short IKEA Lack tables in our dining room, next to the adult table, and we use stools (also from IKEA) as seating.

Everything's paper and plastic (they are kids - and some of them are little!) but I try to make things extra fun, with decorations and gifts attached the name cards. For Valentine's Day, it was bags with candy all around, plus extra candy for the girls and little Nerf guns for the boys. Which did violate my "no guns at the table" rule. But it was a special occasion.

Unsurprisingly, the boys, who are all older, are really only into it for the loot. Some of the girls, though, totally get it. They come in and head right to the table to look for their seats - and they genuinely appreciate how the table looks. I love it.

I mean, my grown up friends care how the table looks, too. But they're not nearly as cute as the little one.