Buy That Stuff!!

Valentine's Day is coming up. There's no way you can miss that fact if you've been in any type of retail setting at least once since Christmas, and in some cases, before Christmas. Every store is inundated with pink and red hearts, and candy companies have changed their packaging for Valentine's Day.

 

“Love more. Spend less” says one advertisement. I dislike that ad so much, because it implies you have to spend money to love, or show your love. “Spend nothing, love more” is way better, or at least I think so.

I'm headed down the curmudgeon path for a while. Don't say you weren't warned.

In my house, Valentine's Day, Sweetest Day, even to some extent Mother's Day aren't important to me. Or even considered “real” holidays. Okay, maybe my first Mother's Day was important. Anyway, definitely Sweetest Day and Valentine's Day are what we call “Bonus Days”. My kids like to make a big deal about Mother's Day, but I really don't. I don't decorate for Valentine's Day; mainly because I don't like pink. Or hearts.

I was going to write about how Valentine's Day has taken over as a gift-buying necessity, but as I was looking for pictures to use, I found a bunch of vintage ads for Valentine's gifts. I don't mean vintage from the 90's, I mean from the 40's, 50's and 60's. Granted, I have no first-hand knowledge of those decades, but from what I saw in the brief time I was looking for photos, it seems like the only difference between then and now is the amount of time available to buy Valentine's gifts. And maybe the number of choices.

1963

So there goes that post.

I suppose I'll just elaborate on what I mean by Valentine's Day being a “Bonus Day”.

In my house, if we don't get something for the other person (even a card), it's perfectly all right. There's no animosity or passive-aggressive behavior from either person. We prefer to show our love to each other or give gifts to each other when we want to do it, not on days designated once or twice a year by...who?  If one of us gets something for the other person, it's a bonus, but there's no pressure to reciprocate.

Some of you do celebrate Valentine's Day, and that's cool, we just don't do it here. Oh, I might make a heart-shaped meatloaf, or get little candy trinkets for the kids, but that's about it. Then, I might not get the candy trinkets or make the heart-shaped meatloaf.

Sometimes, I'll get gifts for St. Patrick's Day. We have an Irish import store fairly close to the house, so maybe I'll buy mugs or key chains. I have a few decorations with shamrocks on them that I'll hang up (if I remember where I put them before the holiday). I'm more apt to celebrate that day than Valentine's Day, probably because my husband and I both have Irish ancestry. Not that St. Patrick's Day really celebrates Irish ancestry, but Valentine's Day didn't start out as a day of celebrating love, either. You can read about Valentine's Day here, and St. Patrick's Day here, if you choose.

So, that's my take on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day. What do you do for Valentine's Day? Do you have any obscure celebrations (like my St. Patrick's Day gift-giving)? Let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear about them!