Valentine Glutton

It's Valentines Day. Actually this will probably be posted a little after Valentine’s Day, and maybe that's best because it's sort of an anti-Valentine’s blog. I would have hated to ruin anyone’s day if it was posted beforehand.

This is a weird little holiday to me, even though as a kid I LOVED Valentine’s Day. I even loved the day before (February 13), when you were all excited in bed wondering who was going to reveal they had a crush on you, even though cards were usually passed out to everyone, so you never really knew which cards were sincere and which ones weren't. Regardless, I would imagine that my crush meant it when his card would say, "Will you be mine?" Yes! Of course I would! Actually, I wouldn't even talk to him the rest of the day because I was a little, nervous 2nd grader. It wasn't like I had a crush on one specific boy; it was more that I liked boys in general and wanted to get Valentine’s cards from all of them. Maybe I was a Valentine card glutton, but I wanted my little art class mailbox to be filled more than anyone else’s. My, how things have changed. Now I only get bills in my mailbox.

Overall, Valentine’s Day has certainly lost its flair. It's just so weird to me now. If I lived somewhere that did not celebrate Valentine’s Day and someone tried to explain to me how America children pass out little cards to every kid in the class reading "Will You Be Mine?"  and "You're Great!", plus little candies with "Lover Boy", "So Fine" and "Call Me", I would think that was completely whack. No wonder America has such a high rate of teen pregnancies. But now I admit I am nervous. I am nervous to let my child walk out of the house on Valentine’s Day with cards that tell other kids to call her. Back in my day it was cute and funny, but now kids are 8 going on 18. They will take all these stupid sayings seriously, and it is really frustrating that I feel like I am going to have to give my child the sex talk before her first Valentine’s Day celebration.

But enough about my future, non-existent child. So when did it change for ME? Did it ever really change? Am I secretly hoping I will get all kinds of Valentine’s emails from guys I know, so I can giggle and really do nothing about it? Maybe, but I would never admit that to myself. I would agree it feels good to eat high amounts of sugar and fantasize about all the men who crush on you. I can see where that would be incredibly satisfying, but now I am an adult. I faced the realities of Valentine’s Day, and while this may be different for other women, at this point in my life I feel the holiday is not appropriate for kids anymore, and it's not for me anymore. I wish they would just wipe it off the calendar, not because I'm a crabby, jaded bitch, but because I feel disillusioned and it hurts. Valentine’s will never be the same again; therefore, Halloween will remain my favorite holiday.

-XO Chanel