I hate Valentine's Day.
There, I said it.
It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment. But it's become such a hassle for parents that it's hard for me to embrace the true meaning, which, does anyone actually know the true meaning? Because it seems like a day for spending a lot of money on stuff that would be cheaper the next day.
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I love a celebration like the next person, but these days, especially if you have a school-age kid like me, it's being taken to a whole new level.
It used to be that you'd grab a bunch of store-bought valentines at your grocery store, maybe sign your name on them and then you'd deliver them to your school friends. There might have even been some sort of class party, but honestly I don't even remember.
I blame the sugar haze.
But now you get a class list ahead of time with everyone's name so the kids, or really, let's be honest, THE PARENTS, can handcraft some sort of valentine that takes way too much time than it should. Or there's a worse scenario, where it costs way too much money than any person should spend on Valentine's Day cards, and those are later stuck in the trash (or recycling bin, if you're a better person than I am).
You can't just put a plain little card in the bag; you have to have some sort of prize.
I realize that it's not the class's fault that I have four children in school and thus must come up with over 100 valentines but, seriously, there's just something a little wrong with that.
I'm not above buying the boxed valentines like my own parents did, but that's not enough, you know. You can't just put a plain little card in the bag; you have to have some sort of prize. Or worse, candy.
Candy is the devil's spawn. Unless it's like a 100 Grand or something, but it's never good candy. It's never dark chocolateโcovered espresso beans. It's Tootsie Rolls and Dum-Dum lollipops and those chalky message hearts that I cannot believe anyone actually eats.
Lots of them. Like ridiculous amounts of them that my kids bring home and won't stop begging for, thus forcing me on a candy soap box because no child of mine will beg to eat chalky message hearts.
It's enough that they sit there and ask me to read all the sayings, which now include updated "OMG" and "TEXT ME" messages. Really? You'd think if they could update the messaging they could change the recipe to make them, you know, edible.
Of course, this is all topped off by the need to wear Valentine's Day themed clothing, which in my world is a red shirt. Heck, it's just a clean shirt of any color because doing laundry means that mommy loves you.
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Instead of all the Valentine's Day rigamarole, I'd love to just be able to spend time doing with my kids what I (or better what they) love doing. And I'm pretty sure I can speak for all of us and say that it doesn't involve writing the names of kids on 30 cards and sticking a gross lollipop to them with a bunch of tape while wearing a shirt that looks like they got attacked by a heart factory.
How about just celebrating love on February 14? And really, every single lucky day I have with my kids.
