V-Day

Finally, the day is almost over and this hideous horrible holiday will finally be gone. For the record, I have no horror stories in my past, no tales of love gone wrong or worthless boyfriends who have shattered my heart and left me wounded by the wayside. I have always hated this holiday. I was anti-Valentines Day waaay before it was cool to do so. Tales do exist of my creative cakes with the "die cupid die" theme...I'm not sure where the photos are though. I also want to say that I have the most wonderful loving supportive husband any woman could ever want and I thank God every night for giving him to me. He of course shares my views on this particular "lovefest". Every year I'm forced to endure endless hours of commercials telling me that in order feel special or be loved I must demand my significant other shell out megga bucks on flowers, candy, jewelry, fancy dinners, or dippy stuffed animals. My poor husband gets bombarded with these same messages telling him that if he does not go all out then he is worthless as a partner and undeserving of my love and attention. Let's get this straight, Valentines Day is an artificial holiday created by Hallmark or some other company with the express purpose of getting people (namely men) to spend money during a slow part of the year. If that wasn't enough, the message sent out is that only heterosexual couples need apply. I truly feel sorry for those who are in "nontraditional" relationships or who are between partners. If that still wasn't enough then there is the oh so popular peer pressure (read cattiness) that exists mainly between women who feel they need to measure their self worth on how much their boyfriend or husband spends on them this one day of the year. Woe be it to the poor guy if he did not mortgage the house to make sure the 2 dozen perfect[ red roses were delivered to her workplace just in time for all to see and comment. He's really in the doghouse if her girlfriends got fancy jewelry to wear out to the oh-so-expensive restaurant and she was stuck with a cheesy card and run of the mill eatery. My point is and always has been that if you love someone then you show them every day and for no other reason than because. Does my husband love me any less because he gave me flowers months ago and not today?? Is he a poor spouse or father because he cooked hamburgers for supper and we ate as a family instead of getting a babysitter and going out to a steakhouse? Should I be resentful that he chose to take Matthew and Carolyn to a movie at the $3 theatre instead of taking me to see the movie of my choice? I could write pages about all the wonderful things my loving husband does for me and the kids. Maybe it's the crappy economy or people are now starting to wake up but I have been reading a lot more articles from people urging others to skip the madness or at least tone it down. It's finally becoming more mainstream to be anti-Valentines Day. For those who love this day and all it stands for I do not mean to disrespect you or hurt your feelings. I only hope that you spend as much time and energy on your relationship the rest of the year as you do on this one day. Oh by the way I got the kids heart shaped Little Debbie cakes and left them at the table for them to discover this morning. They totally loved it. I also did something totally out of character and made hubby a coffee cake this afternoon while Andrew was napping and hubby and the kids were at the movie. I even wrote "I (heart) you" on it. Boy did I get a weird look from him when they got home. As for my "gift" today...I went out with Tobi and Shawna and had coffee at Barns and Nobles Bookstore after my Weight Watchers meeting and met him and the kids at the gym. He got all three up and fed and dressed and out the door. Now that's a gift that I'll take any day.