Party Mummy, should by name, embrace any opportunity to celebrate, right? Totes. But Valentine's Day is where I draw the line because... Valentine's Day is F❤️CKING stupid. There, I said it.
Here's what irks me about V Day (That's Valentine's Day, not Veteran's Day. Veterans are cool.):
Red or pink ones in particular. Roses are smelly and thorny and ridiculously over-priced. If I wanted to spend money on something just to watch it wither away and die within days, I'd buy a fish. Okay, I'm kidding about the fish. I'd take care of it. I'm not a monster, I'm just all riled up over here.
What's the point? I have to run out to the store tonight in the freezing cold to buy pointless generic cards for my daughter to pass out to all of her classmates. Even ones she isn't actually friends with. Inclusion, fine. I'm all for inclusion, but what a waste. You know darn well the cards will just get tossed away. Except for hoarders. I suppose they might kept theirs. Plus we can't send treats to school of any kind, even nut-free ones. So if you're like me, you'll cruise Pinterest looking for a cute but useful DIY number to include with the card, to make the card a little less useless.
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Then you'll be up until midnight melting crayons to pour into little heart shaped molds to make heart crayons to accompany the soon to be recycled cards. And when the crayons end up looking like complete shite, you'll have to run out the next morning to the Dollar Store to buy a handful of red and pink pencils for your child to hand out instead with her pain-in-the-ass Valentines.
While you're driving to the Dollar Store, you'll remember you've neglected to buy something for the teacher. You'll feel horrible because you know she doesn't want another chocolate shaped rose and she'll probably open it and want to punch you in the face. (I know this from experience—as a former teacher, chocolate and coffee gifts made me twitch. And bloat.).
We don't need a fake holiday to tell us when to bestow affection upon our loved ones. I tell my husband I love him daily and I kiss him all the time. Though in November I kiss him significantly less, but only due to Movember. I'm not big on staches.
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I mentioned how I'm an inclusion fan. I have a kid with special needs so don't even get me started. But this holiday reeks of exclusion. People who've lost someone, who are divorcing, or who are single for whatever reason, can't help but feel relegated to the outside looking in on this contrived, dollar-driven day. It bothers me.
Like I said, not a big V Day fan over here.
But instead of just moaning and preaching and dropping f-bombs (although they are pretty F❤️CKING cute when you put a little heart in them) I'm going to offer a suggestion for how to transform February 14th into something pointedly less pointless.
Let's turn Valentine's Day into SHARE THE LOVE DAY!
No really, let's call it that.
Don't spend your money on flowers, chocolate, and jewelry (save those gifts for when you've really screwed up or for no reason at all—that means so much more.) Use the money to "share the love." Buy lunch for a hungry person, bring the school crossing guard a coffee, or drop off a bag of food at the Food Bank. Tell somebody what you love about them, hold open the door, give up your seat. You get the idea. Just focus on being kind(er). Sincerely.
Send home a note to parents asking them to skip the Valentine's cards. Instead suggest they send in the money they would have spent on the cards. $5 max. A twoonie would be fine. (Make sure they know this is optional and anonymous.) As a class, decide on how to spend the money to share the love. Perhaps buy seeds to grow flowers in the school yard in the spring. Whatever you choose, make sure the gesture is something tangible if possible for younger children.
Take the opportunity to talk about what love really means.
Maybe write letters or draw pictures to send to seniors at care facility.
Or make "Share the Love" booklet—designate a page for each student, with their name at the top of the their page. Pass the booklet around throughout the day. Have each student write one nice thing on each of their classmates' pages. At the end, give student's their happy pages to keep. Now that's some sweet useful love.
This Valentine's Day night I'll be with my single and divorcing friends...eating, drinking, playing games, sharing a laugh and Sharing the Love. And the cheese dip.
BTW....My daughter loves printing out her friends' names on Valentine's cards. It gives HER joy, so who am I stand in the way of that? So of course I bought Valentines for her to hand out. And if you happen to like roses, go for it. White or pale yellow ones aren't so bad.
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