valentine juvenility

My daughter and I butted heads over valentines this year. The absurdity of this admission is quite apparent now that she is in bed, safely tucked away from the stack of valentines that she will hand out to her fellow kindergarteners tomorrow. She is five years old. I am thirty-three.

Does anyone else out there struggle with giving their children free reign on projects that are, well, theirs? For some reason, if I am in any way involved in the project, I can't seem to relinquish control of it. Oh, the shame of the other five-year-olds receiving a generic valentine from my daughter. Unbearable enough to warrant my increasingly desperate attempts to align my daughter's valentine vision with my own.

Not desperate at all: presenting in a detached way the brilliant idea I've come up with.
A bit concerned: talking excitedly about my idea... really trying to sell it to her.
Bordering on desperate: pointing out why my idea would turn out better than what she has in mind.
Full-on desperate: "Fine! Nevermind! We'll just go buy boring valentines from the store!"

Oh boy. Did I mention that she is five years old and I am thirty-three?

She insisted on pretending to hold a sucker. I talked her into at least pretending to hold a Hershey's kiss.

Am I planning to grow up a little by next Valentine's Day? As I type this, I am thinking of how soon I can go ahead and finish up my original plan. If it's already done, there's no room for negotiation next year, right?

Did I mention that next year I'll be thirty-four?