I have a loose theory: You should never start something with your kids unless you’re ready to keep it up indefinitely. If I do something once, my kids remember it and expect it again.

Years ago, when I just had Eden and Judah, I made little Valentine’s mailboxes out of paper plates and duct-taped them to the front of our washing machine. Every day for the week leading to Valentine’s Day, each of the kids got a note, card or treat in their mailbox.

Well, these simple little paper-plate mailboxes stuck.

At least every other day for the past month, my kids asked when we would be making our paper-plate mailboxes. I even tried to talk Eden into upgrading to nicer mailboxes we saw at the Hobby Lobby, but she said it wouldn’t be the same. And so the tradition continues. The only difference is that we fill the mailboxes everyday with notes and pictures from not only Carlos and I but from the kids, too.

This year, I cut out a bunch of hearts from construction paper for everyone to write notes about what they love about each other. After each kid reads it, I tape the hearts up in the kitchen. It makes for fun decoration and great reminders of how loved we all are. I got the idea for the hearts from the blog, 71 Toes — they do the “heart attack” every year. It is one tradition I am excited to incorporate into our own Valentine’s Day tradition.