Valentine's Day

In high school we could buy roses for $1 to give to classmates. The roses were different colors so red = love, pink = friendship, yellow = lust (just kidding, I can't really remember all the colors). The roses were passed out during lunch and you'd always sit at your table trying as hard as you could to appear non-chalant, but all the while praying you'd get at least one red rose from someone other than your BFF (who only sent you one because you promised to send her one so neither of you looked bad). I remember being worried my sophomore year that I would get no roses because I didn't have a boyfriend at the time. My parents were sweet and surprised me with flowers at school that day, even though my fears proved to be unfounded.

Once in college, Valentine's Day lost its luster for me. I began to see it as forced and fake. My girlfriends and I all wore black in protest whether we were single or in relationships. The older I got, the more I perfected my disdain of all that is Valentine's Day. I think it's a holiday designed to make single people feel like shit when being single can sometimes be painful enough as it is. I would also rather have my husband bring me home a candy bar some random Tuesday because he saw it and knew it was my favorite rather than schlepping home a box of overpriced Valentines candy.

When R and I were dating and had our first V-Day, I told him I did not celebrate and didn't want him to get me a gift. He looked at me with a completely blank expression and it wasn't until later that I realized he thought I was setting him up. He fully expected that when V-Day rolled around I would scream and rant that he was a crappy boyfriend because even though I said I didn't want anything, how could he not want to shower me with Valentine love? He learned I was serious and now considers himself lucky not to have to live up to any pressure in that area. Now when people ask what he's doing for me for Valentine's Day, he says, "If I don't treat my wife special every day, there is no sense in doing it just one day."

I've mellowed, though, and I usually get him a card, though I forgot this year. Oops. This is not remarkable because I am a card person and I give him cards throughout the year for no reason at all, so I feel justified. Now that Parker is with us, I'm going to have to hide my V-Day venom and put on a happy face because, well, that's just what you do, right? She is the ultimate Valentine after all.