Cupid’s Broken Arrow
At the risk of sounding like a romantic killjoy, I have never been big on Valentine’s Day. It probably stems from the fact that I went to an all girls school as a child, where telling every one of your female classmates you wanted them to “Be Mine” felt, well … a little misdirected.
But I played along in the early years, handing out homemade heart-shaped cut-outs in kindergarten to the rest of the girls in my class. But somewhere around the third grade, those labours of love got stigmatized for being passé, too tired, as if toiling for hours over glittered construction paper and doily fringe somehow begged the question, “What, you were too LAZY to go to the drugstore and just BUY them?”
Even then, when I finally did give in to the pop culture card craze, the array of unfortunate choices always left me scratching my preadolescent head. Should I go with the grossly inappropriate “You’re sweet enough to eat!” Raggedy Ann and Andy series, or the manly Boy Wonder cards, with Robin sashaying in his tights bellowing, “HOLY HEARTTHROB Batman, we’d make a swinging couple!” Uhh … no.
However, I have enjoyed watching my children write out their Valentines each year, though I suspect their enthusiasm for the ritual has almost run its course by now. From here, we likely head toward preadolescent crushes and teen dating. God help us all.
I remember grappling with my own allegiance to Valentine’s Day the February I turned nine when a boy named Connor asked me to ‘go around’ with him. I had no idea what that meant, but I felt all tingly and nauseous when he asked me, so it seemed like a good idea. I’d met him at my friend Hayley’s house that afternoon, and with only twenty minutes of shared airspace, he popped the big question. We ‘went around’ for about three hours that day, then as our play date was wrapping up, he promptly broke up with me. I returned home having loved and lost without so much as a card or fistful of sticky cinnamon hearts to show for it. The bastard.
Ah well, at least I’m not bitter about it. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
HOLY HEARTTHROB, BATMAN – They didn’t really have cards like that, did they??? Very, very funny. Thanks for the best laugh of the week! xxx :-))
Thanks back Fran, for the best compliment of the week! 🙂
Peggy’s a whore? I thought she liked me. She promised to pay me back.
I never trusted that woman. 😉
*LOL* Well Happy Valentine’s Day in the most general sense of the day, Andie!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks Cher – hope yours was chocolate filled too! 🙂
I’m not associated with Buzzfeed at all, but when you mentioned the weird Valentines you would find in the store, I immediately remembered this list they compiled: http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/27-weird-and-creepy-vintage-valentines-day-cards. I think today’s valentines are generally a little more tame? And less disturbing? Thanks for the laugh! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Surreal! 🙂
HOLY Human Rights abuses! Those definitely take the cake. Hard to pick my fave, but the last one sure stays with you! 🙂
Even though I love this commercialized day of love, I get where you’re coming from where the cards are concerned. They were kind of hard to find the right ones to give out to your friends. As for Connor, he was a jerk to have done that to you! He may have gotten his comeuppance for what he did! 😛
Any day can be Valentine’s day … I’m a sucker for flowers in the middle of October!
Ah, young love…
Thank God that’s over 😉
Such a great blog! Thanks for dropping by mine and making me discover yours 🙂