Dear Elliot,

I thought I’d start some posts to give you some pointers about being generally lovely when you’re all grown up and in a relationship of your own. It feels strange writing this now while you’re still little and currently asleep in your cot upstairs but I wanted to let you know the things you can learn from your Daddy.

The first is quite fitting as it takes me back to my very first Valentines’ Day with your Dad in 2007. We had really only just met about a month before and were still in the early days, finding our feet and learning about each other.

I didn’t want to let Valentines’ Day pass without marking it in some way, but it felt too early for elaborate displays of affection, and I’m sure you’ll be aware by the time you read this, that this really isn’t ‘us’ anyway! Instead I just found a card I liked (I think it may in fact have had monkeys on or something equally non-valentinesy) and popped a message in it about how excited I was to be spending time with him, and slipped it into his bag one evening after work. We then went to our respective flats and I sent him a quick message telling him to look in his bag, and then got a reply back telling me how much he’d liked the card.

The next day he presented me with a little gift. He’d bought me some hand-warmers as I was going to the Baltics with work (in February, in the snow), and said they were to keep me warm while I was away from him. I still have a couple of them left, in a little box of memories.

So, little Elliot, take hints from this and always remember it’s the little things that count, not the big huge bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolates. Those hand warmers were some of the nicest things I’ve been given, as they were so thoughtful.

Lots of love, Mummy xx