Valentine Rant

If you are in love with Valentine's Day you may want to skip this entry and go to the one below it. Just comment that I'm a nut case and you'll feel much better. However, if you've got nothing better to do with your time, here's my Valentine's Rant.

There are certain holidays that I love and unfortunately Valentine’s Day isn’t one of them. In fact it’s one the holidays that is so run amuck of the commercialization giants that I actually get angry when I think about it. If we indulged in everything the marketing department says we should do to show our love, we would all be indebted, skimpily clothed, overweight (chocolate – my vice), plant killers, wearing gaudy baubles that we wouldn’t be seen in the other 364 days of the year. And when I do get those things on Valentine’s Day I feel it’s out of obligation instead of love.

You have to realize that my point of view however comes from a slighted jaded perspective. You see, on Feb. 14th many, many, many years ago, my sweetheart purposed to someone else. Unfortunately for her and fortunately for me – She said NO. Whew, that was close. But, none-the-less, it’s a hard holiday for me, one that I have avoided and skipped all too often. Even before that close call, it was depressing. Just ask any single girl out there without a date or a special someone to share it with? When I was single Valentine’s Day was a true bummer.

I’ve tried to like it. I’ve played the part of a crafty mama who makes darling little valentines for my kids to take to school. And I’ve probably succeeded in having some of the cuter, overly time consuming hand outs there were. Other mom’s curse me under their breath when they see what clever things I’ve made. That was a few years ago. Now I sit back and listen to all the other crafty mom’s tell about what they did, and I smile and secretly shake my head. I quit the crafty cuties when I saw what really happens to all those valentines your kids bring home. They rip them open searching for the biggest piece of candy they can find and those time-consuming mementos of your affection are tossed aside.

The final nail in the coffin just happened to be this whole new dietitary adventure our family has undertaken. Now, I’m of the opinion that while the greeting card and floral giants are in ca-hoots to monopolize the holiday there is also another player – Willy Wonka. You know the he’s out there. Like a drug dealer he’s preying on your little kiddos getting them addicted to candy. It isn’t respectable to give cards without the chocolates. Kids think you’re cheap if all they get is a card sans the candy.

This year my kids gave out pencils decorated like arrows. But my heart wasn’t in the craft like in years past and they walked out the door with pity-able cards.

So what is Valentines Day supposed to be about anyway???

If you go to thefreedictionary.com they say…
Noun. 1. Valentine’s Day – a day for the exchange of tokens of affection.

And from the Encarta dictionary token means…
1. something representing something else: something that represents, expresses, or is a symbol of something else.

Why not forget the token and give the real thing. If you’re a clutter-holic like me, tokens can be very dangerous and addictive. So how do you really give love and not just a token of it? Sorry, that I can’t help you with because it’s different for everyone. Maybe those pesky tokens are all you need.

For my husband, well, he’s not into tokens either. But he does like it when I wear make-up and the house is clean, and he likes seafood.

For me, it’s people helping out with chores WITHOUT being asked, or finally getting pictures of my kids in a charm bracelet I bought 4 years ago (Hint, hint, darling), or an evening where the kids go to bed the first time they are asked and not the 20th.

I’m going to try an experiment. I’m going to focus on making next year’s valentine the best ever by giving my husband a valentine that lasts all year. Hopefully if he reads this now he might forget about it and be surprised all the same.

I know you’re confused. I’ll try to explain, see I bought a little red journal (Yes, I know it’s a blasted token). He would probably get more out of a power-point presentation, but journaling’s my thing. So, Starting today I’m going to write in it different things that I love about him and make a new entry every single day. By focusing on all the different reasons why I love him hopefully it will help me appreciate and show that love even more. I’m also going to try and show my family more love on a daily basis. So in essence I’m going to try and give Valentines throughout the entire year. Not tokens but the real deal. I think only then will Valentine's Day be what it was intended to be and not another money maker for some big company.

So, I'm off to finish cleaning and put on some face paint. And a Happy Valentines Day to you to!

So how do you show your real love? (hint, this is a first time beg for comments), and remember this is a family friendly site so keep it clean.

Note: The view's of Valentine's Day are those of this blogger and do not reflect the opinions of her half dozen starving-for-affection kids. That being said, Lea, Princess and Hope profusely and with much gratitude thank Uncle Arrow's Wife and dear cousins for the valentines they received in the mail today. Hope especially loved Tigger. Getting actual mail well, it made their day. Thank you, from the Valentine Grinch!