Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentines Day

Ah Valentine's Day.    I have never really been a fan of Valentine's Day. To be honest this is my least favorite Hallmark Holiday.  There's no horrible underlying reason for this- I have never been dumped on Valentine's Day, or had some horrible experience. In fact most have been quite wonderful.  I've been given flowers, jewelry, balloons, stuffed animals, fancy dinners out.  So why do I dislike it so much?  Mostly because it is a holiday filled with all little materialistic things that annoy me.  For one thing, I am not a fan of the color pink.  And all things Valentine's Day are pink.  I am reminded of the quote from "Steel Magnolias"  "It looks like the sanctuary has been hosed down with Pepto Bismol!" That's how I feel about every Hallmark store and shopping mall around this time too.  Pink is definitely NOT my signature color. 

It's not just the millions of shades of pink that I find irritating.   When I became a Mom I learned first hand just how obnoxious all those little Valentine's cards are.  Yes, I have been the recipient of those cards, but as a Mom I just see them as one more pointless chore.  Staying up late to stick lollipops, fake Scooby-Doo tattoos, pencils, whatever, to flimsy, cutsie cards  is not my idea of spending my time (or money) wisely.   And don't get me started on the two most popular  Valentine's gifts: flowers and candy. First off Conversational hearts are just gross.  They are like the candy corn of Valentine's Day- totally pointless. The chocolates in those heart shaped boxes are just as bad. Even before my dairy free days I did not like boxed chocolate.   Plus if you want to get your sweetie some good chocolate it's all been marked up to some ridiculous price.  Same with roses. $100 for roses is ridiculous!  I much prefer wildflowers or a pretty mixed bouquet.

Even though I am cynical about the materialism of the day and what marketing has turned it into, I am still a hopeless romantic.  I have had the same Valentine for 14 years and every day I fall in love with him even more.  He is my rock, my best friend, my soul mate. Every year he does something special for me- I get flowers and a gift, and he takes me out to a very nice dinner.  This year it's a bit different. We gave ourselves a joint gift- a bedroom makeover complete with new bed, mattress, décor, and desk for me. Since he worked so hard on that home improvement project, this year I planned our date instead of letting him do it.  Instead of a super fancy dinner out like we had talked about, I decided we should do something fun together, so this weekend I am taking him to a local Microbrewery for a tour and tasting, and then to dinner.

Our kids are definitely not left out.  They are our 3 little Valentines and we make sure they each get a little gift and we have a special family dinner (tonight it's fillet Mignon and shrimp) This year our oldest made us all gifts on her own- she wrote each of us a poem telling us why she loved us.  THAT is what today is about-not pink hearts, candy, flowers, and fancy gifts. It's about letting those you love know how much.  As my husband says, everyday is Valentine's Day for us.