I like to think of myself as Switzerland when it comes to Valentine’s Day. I don’t really swing one way or the other on the pendulum of loving or loathing it, since, in my opinion, a day prioritizing going out to dinner and gifting flowers should be any day of the week ending in “y.” The flowers don’t happen all that often in my personal experience, but the going out to dinner…. Talk about needing a *foodresolution.
Whenever Valentine’s Day swings back into town, right on schedule, my first thought is always of elementary school. The grade school V-Day traditions are possibly the best and most adorable manifestation of the holiday’s hold on our collective consciousness. I have fond memories of going to the drugstore to retrieve a package of perforated cards with my favorite Disney character plus pink and red hearts, then giving them to everyone in my 4th grade class. Combined with the inevitable holiday sugar intake, Valentine’s Day always left a nice halo effect of chumminess in the classroom.
But if you’re not 10 years old anymore, Valentine’s Day often hovers a hairs breadth from making one feel manipulated or lonely. To take back this day and declare it once more in the name of Love rather than Hallmark’s bottom line, consider sharing an AOK with someone you <3. After all, you’re in all kinds of relationships no matter your marital status, and showing one of those people that you’re thinking of them is worth it’s weight in chocolates.
