But what's not to love about this silly little holiday? Its basically just like Halloween, only the candy comes in lighter colors.
So I started thinking, why so much hate on a day dedicated to love? By 8:00 a.m. today I already saw a plethora of bitching and moaning on Facebook about "happy lonely day" and "singles awareness" and "screw Cupid." And it's not just coming from desperate girls, I saw updates from seemingly normal guys, as well. So why so much pressure and disappointment on February 14th I wondered?
And then It hit me like an adrenaline needle straight to the heart; elementary Valentines parties. Just take a moment and reminisce about how great those parties used to be. It was easily one of the best days of the school year- which in turn set the bar for all Valentine's Days to come. And naturally none would live up.
Reasons we loved Valentine's Day in grade school:
1. Everyone got a Valentine regardless of height, weight, looks, or number of Tory Burch bags.
2. Girls spent hours decorating their boxes in preparation... errr I mean... students were allowed to get creative in whatever way they wanted to create the perfect Valentine box- lace and glue permitting.
3. Heads Up- Seven Up was usually played for at least 2 1/2 hours.
4. Candy and cookies were in abundance- and calorie free for all an 8 year old could care.
5. No one was left out or "lonely," as far as I knew anyway. But I was pretty popular.
6. It was just expected that you wear something red and sparkly.
7. And no one cared if you didn't look good in something red or sparkly.
8. You never hoped for nice jewelry or a fancy dinner, at the end of the day as long as you came home with a shoebox full of cheap Valentine cards you were satisfied.
9. Free time was spent on Oregon Trail rather than scanning Facebook, having to see a mobile upload every time someone new got flowers. It's Valentine's Day, we get it, you're getting flowers.
10. At the end of the day, a sugar rush was the only kind of high you needed to get your jollies off.
Happy Valentine's Day 2012.
XOXO
Principal Anderson
