Valentine’s day is celebrated in the United States every year on February 14th. There are many stories and legends behind who the real St. Valentine was, but most scholars agree that he was a martyr who was killed by Roman soldiers because he was marrying people in secret at a time when marriage was outlawed. Later in the Middle Ages, a great writer named Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem as a present to King Richard II, who was going to be married soon. In it, he mentioned St. Valentine, and over time, the idea of Valentine’s Day became associated with the idea of love.
During the Victorian times (in the 1800s), Valentine’s Day became extremely popular! Men and women spent a lot of time making beautiful Valentine’s cards with ribbon, fancy paper and even lace. In those days, people were very reserved and they did not often say what they were feeling. Valentine’s day gave them a way to express their feelings to someone they were in love with anonymously. The sender would remain a mystery until they could speak more freely.
In the last few decades, Valentine’s day has changed a lot! Today we still exchange cards, but many people buy ready-made cards instead. We also give flowers or chocolates as a gift to remind people of our friendship and love for them. Most Valentine’s gifts and cards make use of the colors red and pink, and are decorated with images of hearts or roses. Another common symbol of love on this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. He is usually shown as a little angel with a bow and arrow. According to legend, anyone who is struck by his arrows will fall in love.
Here are some links with ideas about how you can celebrate and have fun with the children you care for over the next couple of weeks!
Click here for Valentine’s Day Cards, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, games and puzzles: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/
Check out our Au Pair in America Pinterest page for Valentine’s Day for more ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/valentines-day/
Have fun!
Photo: Nathan Cooprider
Last weekend’s snow storm pushed our celebration of Chinese New Year a week later, but we enjoyed learning all about it and how to make Chinese Dumplings from Yujue, an au pair from China! She taught us about the Chinese Zodiac, how the new year is celebrated in China. Then she taught us how to make Chinese dumplings, which were delicious.
Cindy Garruba and Nancy Picart combined their clusters at Cindy’s house for the meeting. Cindy led the group in filling out their tax forms, reviewing some school information for classes au pairs can take, safe driving tips from the DMV, childcare activities for fun on days when you have to stay inside, and then we learned some heart idioms in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Nancy Picart made a Valentine dessert for everyone, we handed out candy kisses to all the au pairs. 
It was the last cluster meeting for Juliana from Brazil! She will be traveling around the USA for her bonus travel month, then returning to Brazil. Cindy presented her with a certificate, a good bye gift and all the au pairs cheered her accomplishments. Juliana has been an au pair for 2 years! We look forward to hearing more about her trip and her success in years to come!
We may not want to pay taxes: those of us born in the USA, or those who live in the USA for a short time. But if you earn money in the USA, then you owe your fair share. At the Suffolk County Au Pair in America February Cluster Meeting the information on how and when to pay taxes was reviewed by Senior Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba. “I am not an accountant, but I need to give the information to all of you,” Cindy stated. “It is important to review the information available on 
