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Valentines - Lover or Hater? |Pad Patter 2.14.17

I changed my siggie, does that count?

Pretty low key here. Hubby usually gets me something. Some times I get him a card. My daughter made cupcakes for everyone at church on Sunday. That was sweet of her.

And yes, tell your family you love them every day. Early in our marriage, my husband's friend died in a car crash on the way home from going to the dump. You never know when you won't see someone again. So kiss them goodbye and love them often.
 
rchansen said:
For years holidays were all about our girls. We didn't do birthday or Christmas gifts for each other and we never did Valentines Day.:giggle
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We don't usually do Valentine's gifts for each other (but we do get one gift for Christmas and bday) but that's only started in the past few years--since DH got a Big Boy Job after his post doc so we (1) have a little extra money lol and (2) he has time to even think about shopping for me. He ROCKED my bday gift a few years ago (a purse in the exact style and material that I'd been searching for). Anyway, I'm rambling.
This year I got DH a FitBit for Valentine's Day. How horribly un-romantic does that sound?! But before any of you make me hand in my Wife Card lol, he asked for it! He's been looking at them wistfully whenever he sees them in the store or in a commercial. There was a new type on sale on Amazon, so I asked "Listen, I know you want a FitBit. It's not cheap so I'd like to give it to you for your bday but that's months away and I know you want it now. So can I give it to you for Valentine's Day?" He was so excited that I let him have it, unwrapped, the day it came in the mail. I'm a pushover lol. But I don't want to tell anyone IRL what I got him cuz it sounds like I'm saying "Hey, that one day a year that society requires you to be romantic? I went the opposite way and get my man something to record his steps and calories burned per day. He's been working out and I want to encourage that." :cornfused But to me, listening to DH was more important than being romantic. His Love Language isn't receiving gifts, so he doesn't care what he gets--he really is happier with something he finds useful than something "loving" and romantic, ya know? Maybe that's another reason that I don't have strong feelings about Valentine's Day. If he cared more, then I would too.
 
Neither. My husband and I are both neutral on holidays in general, don't care about specific dates (although we always make note of the days we first met and married), and aren't big gift-givers. We're just practical about material things, romantic in other ways, and put more importance in our every day actions. We spent some time alone together this morning before I even remembered it was Valentines Day. He had gotten up to get ready for work and I picked up my phone and Facebook reminded me. :giggle I called out to him, "Oh, by the way, happy valentines day!" Our kids are following our example. They weren't interested in the opportunities they had to exchange valentines with our homeschool group. They do enjoy the candy, but we don't limit candy to special occasions. They aren't even having any sweets today because the sweets I bought in my regular grocery trip last weekend have been eaten already and today was a stay at home day. My girls kind of celebrated last week; our homeschool group had a valentines dance last Wednesday evening. The dancing and hanging out with friends was the most important part though; not the holiday.
 
AnneofAlamo said:
my hubby came home at lunch, gave me a kiss and said, "happy hallmark makes lots of money day"
I love this man! tee hee
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Yeah I can see this point too. But it's sweet that he remembered and putting his wish in his own words. When the boys were younger we would have maybe a Valentine and small candy. Then we would celebrate Valentines by going and buying a box of candy we would have liked to get at 1/2 off. Same with Easter on some things. I'm not into the commercialism part of holidays, but the sentiment. My other post didn't really address that. I would be happy to have this type of wish too.
 
Tree City said:
We don't usually do Valentine's gifts for each other (but we do get one gift for Christmas and bday) but that's only started in the past few years--since DH got a Big Boy Job after his post doc so we (1) have a little extra money lol and (2) he has time to even think about shopping for me. He ROCKED my bday gift a few years ago (a purse in the exact style and material that I'd been searching for). Anyway, I'm rambling.
This year I got DH a FitBit for Valentine's Day. How horribly un-romantic does that sound?! But before any of you make me hand in my Wife Card lol, he asked for it! He's been looking at them wistfully whenever he sees them in the store or in a commercial. There was a new type on sale on Amazon, so I asked "Listen, I know you want a FitBit. It's not cheap so I'd like to give it to you for your bday but that's months away and I know you want it now. So can I give it to you for Valentine's Day?" He was so excited that I let him have it, unwrapped, the day it came in the mail. I'm a pushover lol. But I don't want to tell anyone IRL what I got him cuz it sounds like I'm saying "Hey, that one day a year that society requires you to be romantic? I went the opposite way and get my man something to record his steps and calories burned per day. He's been working out and I want to encourage that." :cornfused But to me, listening to DH was more important than being romantic. His Love Language isn't receiving gifts, so he doesn't care what he gets--he really is happier with something he finds useful than something "loving" and romantic, ya know? Maybe that's another reason that I don't have strong feelings about Valentine's Day. If he cared more, then I would too.
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My husband and I usually get ourselves things we want and say, "This is my birthday/xmas/whatever gift." I think it's very sensible! :)
 
amien1 said:
I :beatLOVE:heartlub it- but not in the 'buy extravagant gifts' sort of way. I buy small meaningful things for the kids & the hubby & I usually exchange a card but nothing too crazy. To me- it's just a good reminder to tell everyone you love them! I try to do that everyday, but you know the extended family & friends that you don't see or talk to often- I always send everyone I love a text on Valentine's Day. Life is too short- tell people you love them today! :hehe

sorry for the mush! :grouphug
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Good reminder. I try to text or email people too. My dad and I can only communicate through text so you gave me a good reminder to text him. It was his and my mom's anniversary so now that she is passed it is a bittersweet day for him. They missed their 50th anniversary by only a few months. Thanks for the reminder.
 
I made valentine's cards for all my children, my mom and my sweet hubby who came home form work just now and handed me my favorite bag of dove chocolates! LOVE that man!
 
I'm pretty much a hater, but mainly because I'm a tight wad LOL I hate the fact that flower prices double, so DH was warned years ago, not to spend money on flowers that will die for Valentine's Day. There are so many other things I'd rather have. And honestly, I would so much rather have the gas station rose on some random day than anything on Valentine's Day :) I do usually get a small box of chocolates for the kids, but that's it. DH came home yesterday and said "guess what you're getting for Valentine's Day?" and I said, "probably the same as you're getting....nothing". And we had a good laugh.
 
when the kids were little - i'd get into it. making them stuff and getting them little gifts. we always did little valentines for school - some years even handmade ones.

as for my husband - cupid would literally have to shoot him in the behind - for him to do something. like after school today - we had appointments and activities. i was out with my daughter and she needed something to eat bc she doesn't take a lunch in school. we went to the bagel shop & next door there is a florist ... and everyone was walking out with roses. my husband would have had to have been in that parking lot - seeing all those people getting roses - in order to remember. and even then it's questionable as to whether he'd buy some flowers.

i guess before i was married i liked it more - but was more of a romantic dinner at home type. i hate overly pricey/busy restaurants. yuck!
 
Well, I have to come back to this post to say that after my husband called at lunchtime to wish me a happy valentine's day but 'don't expect much because you know how I feel abt this holiday'... he came home late from work with a bouquet of flowers for me! :beat
 
I don't mind Valentine's Day if there is not a party for my kids. LOL! I don't want to make sure there are cards to go around.

We did have a little party yesterday with one other homeschool family....she traveled 2 hours to get here & has adopted deaf children. We have a lot in common! Anyway, I told her we weren't exchanging anything because I know it can cause stress & anxiety when you have as many kids as we do. I just threw out some valentine crafts, had the kids make pizza and I made strawberry rice krispy treats. It was super low key and fun.

Today I bought my kids Little Debbie valentines hearts and told them Happy Valentine's Day. They were happy with that!

My hubby always buys me a plant of some sort . Usually one to plant outside, but I've been loving indoor plants lately, and I've actually been able to keep a few alive over the last year, so he bought me one. We rarely go out for Valentine's Day. So, it's just our tradition that he "sneaks" out of the house (have I mentioned he works at home & we are always together!) and comes back with something.
 
Interesting that you ask this ....

I was very surprised to discover that, at the youngest's high school, you can buy a rose and it will be delivered in classtime to your 'Valentine' (it can also be delivered to a few other local high schools that have bought into the scheme).

It's not at all a tradition here. When I was young most NZers probably couldn't have told you when Valentine's Day was. But clearly an enterprising florist has heard of this being done in the US and has got some schools to buy into it as a fundraising measure.

Me, my mother and sister all immediately thought of the girls who don't get a rose (and whose 'internal voice' is that they will never have anyone buy them one) getting their class interrupted for the "lucky girls" and we were not impressed.

I am VERY curious as to the experiences and views of people here, who maybe had similar stuff when they were at high school. Did you love or hate Valentine's day at high school?
 
I've never been a big fan of the day, especially when I was single, but I've always bought myself a small box of Russell Stover chocolates ever since I was in college. My DH has never been a fan, because he says it's a forced day of romance and he can be romantic whenever he wants. He can't stand the commercialism of the day. Then our son came along, and it kinda made us fans, just a little. I'm so glad they made that rule that if you are going to give out valentines that everyone in the class has to get one. It makes it so easy, and no kids get hurt. I remember those kids that barely got any when I was in school. I was sad for them. I remember my mom told me to give everyone one, but I always made sure that there were no "implications" on the valentines for those kids that weren't really my friends. LOL

Since my son is 17, I give him and my DH each a bag with chocolate candy, usually Hershey's Kisses. I just got a couple of lunch bags and wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" and drew a couple of hearts. LOL They didn't care - they got their chocolate.
 
@LynnG - Yes, it seems like the rose thing in high schools has been around for awhile. Yes, I was the girl without a rose, but I would say only about 1 in 30 girls got one. Yes, it was the popular girls - or the girls that had boyfriends with money. So just another reminder that I was not part of the cool ones. No idea if it is still popular now as this was over 30 years ago for me. I think if I had a son/daughter in public high school, I would foot the bill so they could buy one for each of their close friends.

On a personal note, hubby brought home some orange colored roses for me. They are pretty. He offered to take me to dinner but I had already started it. We had Thai turkey lettuce taco things - the kind that costs $$$ at PF Chang's. So when he said how good they were, I said "just pretend you are eating them at PF Chang's but you are saving yourself $$$ by eating them at home." He likes saving money, so it was a good thing.
 
I love that chocolate is usually on sale around Valentine's Day. At my former school, we used February as our Mission Month and raised money for some way to support a foreign mission project (wells in Africa, water treatment kits for Thailand, solar refrigerator for Blue Nile Sudan area, Bibles in Nuer language, etc.)
 
LynnG said:
Interesting that you ask this ....

I was very surprised to discover that, at the youngest's high school, you can buy a rose and it will be delivered in classtime to your 'Valentine' (it can also be delivered to a few other local high schools that have bought into the scheme).

It's not at all a tradition here. When I was young most NZers probably couldn't have told you when Valentine's Day was. But clearly an enterprising florist has heard of this being done in the US and has got some schools to buy into it as a fundraising measure.

Me, my mother and sister all immediately thought of the girls who don't get a rose (and whose 'internal voice' is that they will never have anyone buy them one) getting their class interrupted for the "lucky girls" and we were not impressed.

I am VERY curious as to the experiences and views of people here, who maybe had similar stuff when they were at high school. Did you love or hate Valentine's day at high school?
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I'm not in favor of interrupting class to deliver flowers. I would have been one of those girls who wouldn't have gotten one and it would have hurt my heart. If you can't buy flowers for each girl, then don't buy any!
 
I think Valentines given to children are totally sweet...a lovely tradition.

As a teacher I was witness to the "Red, pink, white rose Hell" that went on at school. It was really a sad date for so many of the students and was finally shut down by the administration. The majority of the girls were not included and, no matter how you slice it, the activity was not a boost to their self esteem.

On another note, I bought my husband a Valentine's card this year because my craft room got buried in the remodel and I could not get to my supplies. His comment..." I bet it hurt buying a card." Love that guy. He gave me roses and I gave him chicken noodle soup since he had the flu.

@bestcee I love the alternative title, singles awareness day...oh so apropos.
 
I love it. As a kid in elementary school we'd spend what seemed like hours picking out our drug store valentines to bring to school, then spend about as much time making the "mailbox" out of an old cereal box. Mom would make us a special dinner, complete with heart-shaped frosted cut-out cookies that we had made the day before. Then, we'd each get a card and a box of See's Candy from my parents. By the time I got to high school it was low key. No one passed out valentines anymore, but there were the carnations for sale. The various clubs and organizations around the school took turns hosting a carnation sale every holiday or special event around school, and they were sold for 25 cents. My friends and I would purchase flowers for each other to make sure we got something, and at that price it was doable.

When I was single my friends and I would either host a meal at one of our houses, followed by watching movie. Or, we'd go out for heart-shaped pizzas. We'd call them Rotic dinners - without the "man". We just saw it as an excuse to get together.

When I got married I realized my DH didn't celebrate holidays, except for giving cards, and a gift or two on Christmas. This was a surprise because he lavished me with flowers, gifts, and dinners out when we were dating. It took me years to tell him we needed at least 4 date nights a year (which is about all we do!) one for each of our birthdays, Valentine's Day and our anniversary. We don't do flowers because they're too expensive. But I do go and purchase See's Candy for everyone now that there's a pop-up store in the mall from Christmas to Easter. That's one tradition I won't let go!

One year the four of us went to the Melting Pot for a fondue dinner. It was cheaper to bring the kids than get a sitter at $20 an hour (they double the rate for holidays, and I don't pay extortion!). We loved it so much that for years after that we did fondue at home.

Yesterday DH took a 1/2 day off work so we could go to lunch and a movie, using gift cards we received for Christmas. Gotta love a bargain!
 
Apparently at the elementary school they sold something that would be handed out during class time. Not roses, but gah! How horrible to start that thing in elementary school!
 
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