The Day With The Big Red Heart

Valentines Day. I feel as though everyone is black and white on this topic. You either love it or you hate it. There really isn't a middle ground. Most people assume that everyone in a relationship automatically likes Valentine's Day. False. I do not like Valentines Day, nor am I single.

I would like to go ahead and state that I do have an incredible Daddy and Grandma who sent me chocolate truffles from Godiva (Dad) and a lovely card (Gram) for Valentine's Day. Neither of them sent the items specifically on Valentine's Day, so it was just a nice surprise to come home to one day.

Okay so here is my unfrequent blog rant. I actually hope that you'll stick around for this one, because I really would like to have a few opinions on whether or not I'm crazy. Not that I care what you think...but still. (Humor, guys. Like "hahaha") Moving on.

What is the honest point of Valentine's Day? You go out to dinner and spend silly amounts of money on chocolate, candy, flowers, stuffed animals and cards for a holiday that was originally started by an imprisoned religious saint. That is romantic in what way exactly? Well, it's romantic by the standards of the greeting card companies, people who make chocolate, the creators of stuffed bears, and florists because they make a crap ton of money off of it.

Now, I realize that there are a lot of you out there who are thinking, dang, something really bad must have happened to this girl on Valentine's Day one year for her to be this negative. Actually, the opposite is true. Let me break down my thinking for you.

Some people will argue that Valentine's Day is the day that you are supposed to show your love to your significant other. Oh, I'm sorry. So you only do that once a year? The last time I checked, that was supposed to be every day. As for the chocolate, flowers, stuffed animals and all that stuff. Why? This year, Brian and I didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day. I actually went out and babysat and didn't really spend any time with him. However, that's okay because it's Valentine's Day, not our anniversary, not a birthday or a special occasion. Who wants to spend tons of money on sending flowers (that you could just have easily gone to Costco, Sams Club, Lowe's Foods, Publix, Ingles, etc. and picked up for WAY cheaper) and going out to a fancy dinner?

Of course you have the girls who are reading this thinking, But it's SO romantic! No. No it is not. Spending over $100 on something stupid like jewelry, flowers, chocolate, and dinner is not romantic. Making a handmade card and writing how much you appreciate your significant other just because? THAT is romantic. Coming home to no dirty dishes in the sink, the floor vacuumed, the laundry done, or dinner cooked simply because your boyfriend or girlfriend knows you've had a rough day? To me, that's ten times more romantic than shelling out money for some generic dinner and chocolate.

I guess I can attribute my up-bringing to my feelings towards generic love holidays. I was always one of the guys. I didn't date in middle or high school. I wasn't the popular girl, on homecoming court, prom queen, a cheerleader, or a star athlete. I was always the one guys turned to for advice about girls, and never the recipient of anything special when it came to Valentine's Day. I have seen so many girls treat perfectly nice guys like trash because they weren't fulfilling what the girl thought was acceptable boyfriend behavior. I've also seen people shell out way too much money on expensive gifts, jewelry, dinners, etc. for a significant other who didn't deserve any of the attention they were being given.

Gifts aren't everything. Someone who can't buy you an expensive present must find other ways to show their love, and those are the ones that are truly worth keeping around. A man who spends $12 on chocolate roses that his students are selling to benefit their school and then gives them to you as you walk together on your way to chaperone the Valentine's dance? That's a guy worth keeping.

You can't put a price on love, so don't bother trying. At the end of the day, it's how you feel about your significant other that counts. Find someone who accepts you for who you are...who hugs you when you're sad, laughs at the stories that you've told ten or more times, and lets you lay on the floor and cuddle with their leg while they're sitting at the computer playing League of Legends because you're sick and you took cough medicine with hydrocodone in it and you feel high as a kite.

Happy Sunday, guys.