Single Parent Valentine’s Day Ideas That Balance Kids, Guilt & Romance

Finding time for single parent Valentine’s Day ideas can be tough, make no mistake. It’s a holiday that celebrates romantic love, and your love life doesn’t involve your kids. So how can you balance your need for that side of life with your desire to put your kids first?

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Well, we want all of our readers to have a Valentine’s Day that works well for them. In the case of our single parent readers, we’ve got a great list packed with our single parent Valentine’s Day ideas that will set you up to spend the day in style.

Top Notch Single Parent Valentine’s Day Ideas

• Lean Into The Hearts for Little Kids: If your kids are particularly young, it can be tough to help them understand the idea of romantic love. To help them grasp the concept of the holiday, it can be invaluable to lean into the iconography. Aim for heart-shaped cookies, cards, cakes, and anything else you can think of!
• Lean Into Love for the Older Kids: Write them a letter about how you love them, and all the good things that you see in them. Lisa Appelo, writing for iMom, mentions the lovely idea of hand writing the note for a little added personal touch. Appelo also speaks about how her husband was the fun parent, and she was more of a disciplinarian. Now that she’s on her own, that hasn’t changed. Valentine’s Day can be a great chance to break from that pattern and show your kids some deliberate, intentional love.
• An “After the Kids are In Bed” Party: Having some of your single friends round after your kids are in bed can be a great way to take care of the little ones while taking some time for yourself, too. Kat Seney-Williams, writing for Care for the Family, suggests doing something adult but low-key, like having a little wine and playing a board game. That way, you’re having an evening for yourself after a day for the kids. Seney-Williams also suggests a Secret Santa so everyone gets a gift. This is a brilliant idea, but, personally, we’d get a kick out of calling it Secret Cupid and making the gifts red or heart-themed.
• Self-Love is Still Love: Love for yourself is a key part of the love we all have for the world we’re in. It’s also a skill that must be honed and shaped before your kids truly get the hang of it. Use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to show them what self-love is and break down how they can do it themselves. This is an invaluable lesson they’ll remember for years!
• Show Your Kids Love is a Verb: Lots of people speak about love as though it’s a cosmic force that comes and grabs us when we least expect it. While that is certainly an element of it, it’s important to remember that it’s a choice we make. We choose to love those around us when we do things for them, make them happy, and support them however we can. Ask your kids who they’d like to do something nice for, and then do your best to make that happen. As an alternative among our single parent Valentine’s Day ideas, do some random acts of love and kindness for strangers: you could make someone’s day!
• Do a Galentine’s or Palentine’s: Galentine’s and Palentine’s are two alternative holidays to Valentine’s Day. Instead of celebrating romantic love, they celebrate the love of friendship, with the first of those two days being for female friends, and the second being for male friends. They can be observed on any day, but they’re traditionally celebrated on the thirteenth of February. If you have any single-parent friends, bring up this idea to them and celebrate with single parent Valentine’s Day ideas for the two of you.
• Write out a Valentine’s Card for Your Parents: You can also use Valentine’s Day to show your kids that there is more than just romantic love out there. There’s love for your parents and other family members, love for friends, and love for the world around us. One of the most heartfelt single parent Valentine’s Day ideas on our list, you and your kids could collaboratively write a Valentine’s card celebrating the love you both have for your parents (their grandparents). It’s a simple idea, but one that the grandparents will adore.

Coping with Guilt as a Single Parent

Guilt vs shame — identify what you’re feeling. If it’s a behaviour you can and will change, then make a plan. If not, treat the little voice like someone you really don’t like.

Being a single parent means trying to find the best balance possible in all things, which isn’t always easy. Our list of single parent Valentine’s Day ideas isn’t the longest in the world, but we hope it can help you spend the day exactly how you want!