8-year-old Amy carefully wrote the name of each classmate on a valentine. Some of the i’s were dotted with hearts. She signed her name to each one with extraneous swirls on her y’s. The list of names was doubled checked and the cards were tucked gently in a ziploc bag until Monday.

5-year-old Evan grumbled and complained that he could pass the valentines out to classmates easier without names on the cards. Two adults took turns hovering over Evan to keep him focused on the task of addressing his cards. Amy helped Evan slide the heart shaped lollipops in the slots on each card. She frowned at one of the candies. “This one is broken. You can eat it Evan.” Evan raised one eyebrow and for a moment, I thought I was looking at John Belushi. His face returned to normal impishness and he picked up one of the Lego figurines that he always keeps within his reach. The Lego man became a hammer to smash the lollipop. Smash, smash, smash. “I can eat this one, too.”