The Romantic.com

One year, in an attempt to freshen up some stale Valentine’s Day traditions, I decided to have a treasure hunt.  I purchased a necklace for my wife and my children each selected a small gift (chocolates & perfume, if I remember correctly).  I also purchased a sheet of heart-shaped stickers and three cards.

Next I went through our collection of CDs in search of songs that could be used as clues.  I selected love songs or songs with a special meaning for us (ELO – “Telephone Line” or the Police – “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”).  I then printed quotes from each song on little slips of paper (“…if you’d pick up that telephone…” or “…it’s a big enough umbrella…”).  I then supervised the kids placing the clues around the house using the heart-shaped stickers.  The first clue to each gift was contained in a card from that person and when the last clue in the chain was discovered, there was not only the gift, but the card from the next person.

When my wife got home, she was a bit down from a long day at work but the enthusiasm of the kids and the fun of running around the house quickly re-energized her.  When she got to the last gift, she found not only the necklace I had gotten her, but a CD of all the songs used as clues.  To this day she likes to pop the CD in the player in her car after a particularly tiring day; it allows her to reset her mood before arriving home.