I have to be honest: I’ve always hated Valentine’s day. Mainly because for a good 90% of my life, the only thing I got on Valentine’s Day was a teddy bear and chocolates from my mom. While she meant well, it wasn’t exactly a self esteem booster in high school when all the other girls were getting roses in homeroom from their sweethearts.
Then of course, along came Matt and he swept me off my feet. Our first year together was the first Valentine’s Day that I had a boyfriend and I was curious as to what was going to happen. I still hated the holiday; why is it that we assign a single particular day to show our significant others that we love them? Shouldn’t that be an everyday thing? And am I the only one who thinks the alternative motive of this holiday is to shame single people into chocolate induced comas?
Anyways, Matt hates crowds and I wasn’t exactly jumping at the bit to be a stereotypical couple, so we spent our first Valentine’s Day in my dorm room with movies and snacks. It’s what we love to do, so why not do it on February 14th? I handmade Matt a card and then he completely upstaged me by giving me an expensive bracelet. It was beautiful (what girl wouldn’t want that?!), but it wasn’t the best part of the day. The important thing was that we were together and spending quality time together.
And while that day was pure Valentine’s perfection in my book, Matt did want to see me dressed up and all lady-like so he took me out for a little romantic dinner a week later on our own time, not the calendar’s!
We took the commercialism and stereotypes of my most dreaded holiday and turned them into something all our own. Something I’m actually really looking forward to this year. Once a total (bitter) hater, once I was coupled up I learned that Valentine’s Day isn’t something to fear, it’s something that can be really great. You just have to personalize it. I still think you can pick any day of the year to show your boyfriend that you love him, but it is pretty nice to have an extra reminder in the middle of winter.
Still, though, can we put an end to the cliche chocolates and roses?
