It's Always An Adventure

Today is Valentine’s Day and while walking through the streets this morning, I have observed many men (and a few women) walking around with bouquets of flowers. The card stores are packed and the pastry and chocolate shop windows are deliciously decorated. And I have mixed feelings about the whole darn day.

Back in University, living in an all girl residence, Valentine’s Day was insane. There were two reactions to the day- 1) if the girl had someone in her life she went all out- planning for the big night and obsessing over what the guy in her life would be getting her OR 2) if you were single it seemed like the only thing to do was to act like you were going to die alone. I think this is where I began to start being a bit anti- V-Day. This attitude of mine, has not been helped by the fact that I also taught high school for thirteen years and Valentine’s day with all of the out of control teenage hormones and insanity brings its own special kind of crazy. It just seems like on this day of love there can be a whole lot of tears. I feel for the guys (and gals) out there stressing about getting the perfect gift that expresses exactly how they feel about his/her loved one. I think the whole day has totally gone over the top.

That being said, I have decided to put my own ambivalence aside and embrace the day. Why? Because I have children. Two little girls who are romantics in their own right. They believe in fairies and happy endings and heroes. I am certainly not going to crush that sense of wonder and happiness. Both girls painstakingly took the time to write out Valentine’s for each person in their class. Carefully picking the right card for each of their friends. At this age, they wouldn’t even think of excluding a single person. A, even added some extra hearts for her “special” Valentine. She told me that today is the day that you can express your feelings to someone without any consequences. I guess she is right. There will be plenty of time for the lessons of “growing up” and heartache. I would like to delay that as long as possible. I couldn’t help but smile as they greeted people they knew on the street with a hearty “Happy Valentine’s Day”. It reminded me that today does not have to be all about getting caught up in the commercialism and stress it can quite simply be about sharing a smile and spreading some good feelings… warmth and love.

As for me, I am going to use today as an excuse to indulge in a beautifully iced cupcake 😉 Oh, and I might even find a moment to remind myself of how lucky I am to be surrounded and loved by such amazing family and friends. My wish for you is that you take some time to remember that you are loved too. Happy Day!! xoxo