I HEART Valentine's Day

Roses, candy, romantic dinners, touching greeting cards.

I WANT NONE OF IT!!!!!!! REALLY!

Valentine's Day has to be the dumbest, most ridiculous day of observance in the history of life.

I'm not just saying this because my youth was full of imbalanced hormones, zits, unruly hair and social ineptness which resulted in not receiving any Valentine's. I am not bitter. I don't reject Valentine's Day as a defense mechanism for having false expectations.

It really is just stupid.

When my husband and I were approaching our first Valentine's Day, I intervened his thoughts. Prior to Valentine's Day I informed him that it is not really a holiday I care about. No need to purchase over priced flowers. No need to take me out to a pre-fixe dinner. Just ignore the day. At first he was skeptical. He asked his buddies at work what he should do. They all insisted I was lying and that it was a test. NUH-UH. He came home with some flowers. It was nice, but really, if he came home with nothing it would have had the same affect on me.

Why should Hallmark decide what day my significant other should express his affection for me and vice versa? Wouldn't it be more affective if it were done on a whim or on a day when society isn't telling me to do it?

In fact, I think Valentine's Day is kind of cruel. In elementary school, we were forced to give every kid in the class a Valentines, even if we couldn't stand the kid. I'm guilty..I made my own daughter do it. But what does it ultimately teach these kids? When they get a bit older and they stop receiving Valentines, they are going to be clueless, wondering what happened. I can just picture poor Stuey wondering why Ashley gave him a card that read "Choo Choo Choose Me" in the 5th grade yet she won't even acknowledge him when they get to 6th grade. Now if Stuey never got a card to begin with, he wouldn't expect one anyway, right? But society tells us that Stuey should get a card just because it's Valentine's Day.

Also, doesn't Valentine's Day promote having babies out of wedlock? I mean, here we are teaching kids the birds and the bees and that babies come when two people love each other. Then Valentine's Day rolls along and these kids are declaring love to each other, whether they really love the person or not. I see it coming...FREE LOVE! Do the math:

Valentine's Day = Day to show love. Show Love = sex. Therefore Valentine's Day = Sex.
Kids are learning this as early as the first grade! How are we, as responsible parents, supposed to raise our children with morals and respect when we have this day, MARKED ON THE CALENDAR, telling them to go out and have sex just because it's the day to it?

Then you have the lonely hearts club who are miserable on Valentine's Day. Every day they come across something subtle which reminds them that they don't currently have a significant other. Cooking dinner for one, conversations with the cat, and nobody calling to say goodnight. But then you have Valentine's Day and it just shoves the reminder IN THEIR FACE. Now how romantic and loving is that? She'll stay home from work because she won't want to see all of her college's flower deliveries. She won't want to explain why her "boyfriend" who lives in "Canada" didn't send her anything.

You also have these die hard Valentiner's who get angry if they don't go out for dinner or don't get a gift. I believe these people are totally insecure with themselves and with their relationships. do I need my boyfriend / husband, etc to validate our relationship all the time? Do I especially need it because there is a pre printed mark on my calendar showing "Valentine's Day"? Absolutely not. I know he loves me and he knows I love him back. Getting a friggin box of chocolates in not going to change a thing.