No Valentines Day
We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day anymore. I was tempted to start and end this post with the phrase "because I'm a grown-up, now," but didn't.
And then I wanted to say, "because we're broke," but that's boring/a downer/true.
To tell you the truth, "Eh," is what I mostly say to Valentine's Day.
It's not that I hate Valentine's Day, I don't, it's that I don't care that much anymore. I say no Valentines Day. I'm approaching fifteen years of marriage, what's my husband going to get me, a surprise? I don't think so. I'd rather he surprise me with a new phone, or an evening alone in my own (clean) home because he took the kids away. None of that will happen because it's on a school night and we have responsibilities. A dozen long stem roses with babies breath? You take those roses straight back to 1987 where they belong.
I'd like to go out to dinner (see: broke) but there's no way I'd ever want to go to dinner on actual Valentine's Day--let's leave that to the noobs in fresh relationships. Want to be romantic? Cook mac & cheese from a box and let me take the night off from meal prep.
I cannot remember the last time we went out to dinner on Valentine's Day, maybe it was the 90s? I do remember most restaurants having 2 hour waits, and no one wants to eat at PF Chang's that badly.
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These days it's more about helping the kids with fun Valentine activities. Cutting up Valentine cards, picking out the candy, and frosting sugar cookies (I always think I'm going to make sugar cookies, but I never do. I blame that three year streak a while back when I did make them--that woman lived in a condo and had only one child.) You have to double check the list of class names, cross reference with which person gets what type of candy, and make sure little BrinnLeighy's name isn't misspelled on the envelope.
And, you know, this new kind of No Valentine's Day is more practical, less stressful, and features 98% less angst. There's so much pressure on people to find a Valentine, romance their Valentine,or lament a Valentine. None of those are for me. How about we just cut up some printed Valentines and sneak the conversation hearts when the kids aren't looking? Don't bother getting chocolates at a local store, they're nasty anyway. What about a rain check on dinner? How about you keep those over-priced roses and surprise me with a bouquet in a couple months when the prices aren't stupid?
Why don't you simply be my Valentine?
Do you make a point of celebrating Valentine's Day?
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