Another Pointless Holiday

Valentines Day is one of those Holidays that I just don't get.  I mean honestly, if you have somebody in your life that you love, shouldn't you show them everyday, rather than just one day of the year.  Didn't we just spend a boatload of money at Christmas?  Now we have to dish it out again a month later?  Could the stores just not wait until Easter to rape us again? 

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, and I got them the Valentine's Cards to send to school.  If I didn't my kids would be shunned.  But needless to say, they will come home with at least one of the Cards made by the overachieving mom (because God forbid these moms let their kids mess up their perfect craft project by doing it own their own) whose days are spent trying to figure out how they can make the other mom's look bad with their store bought cards.

And what about the kids out there who don't have parents to show them love, or have parents that are away and can't be with them on Valentine's Day.  It makes the kids feel bad that they can't enjoy the day the way rest of the kids do.  There is a little girl in my son's class whose father is in Afghanistan fighting for our country.  This girl has enough to deal with in life without being made to feel worse because she won't have her dad there to spend the day with her.  Because society pressures us into believing that this one day of the year is for love, and gifts and dinner out.

When I was in High School there was a Valentine's Day flower sale every year.  You ordered the flower for the one you loved a couple of days in advance and on Valentine's morning it was delivered to you in homeroom.  Everybody was so excited to get their flower.  And those who didn't just felt like shit.  My boyfriend lived in another town so I never got that flower.  Hated that!  And I guarantee that there are kids at my old high school feeling pretty down right about now.

I might sound like I am anti Valentine's Day because I am single, but I am not.  I haven't been single for almost fourteen years.  And I also haven't bought my husband a gift for the holiday in all that time, because I don't see the point.  I refuse to go to a restaurant and spend triple the price for a meal because that is what we are "supposed" to do.  Restaurants love Valentine's Day, big time profit, trust me I know, I have worked in restaurants my entire life, we love to screw you naive people.

So call me a scrooge if you will.  I am not wearing red.  I am not buying candy or cards or expensive gifts for my children.  Because my kids get a gift from me everyday.  My unconditional love.