The Evolution of Valentine's Day

In the last 24 hours, I have witnessed the three stages of Valentine's Day.  It was like being visited by Jacob Marley's ghost, only his chains were made of construction paper hearts (and he smelled kind of like Drakkar Noir).


This morning, I got to experience a little kid's Valentine's Day.  We got Charlotte Reese's hearts, dry erase markers, and a pink sock monkey, which she named Sally Mimi and insisted on taking to school.  We stopped on the way to school to pick up treats for the class party (don't judge me--school rules don't let you bring homemade anymore). It made us a little late, but who cares?  When we got to school, the kids--boys and girls alike--were so excited to hand out their valentines.  No one was overanalyzing the messages the way older kids would ("I can't give one that says 'Be mine' to a girl!"); they were just psyched about a day that was out of the ordinary (and that promised sweets).

Yesterday afternoon, I got a dose of high school V-Day.  I walked into the bathroom and found a clutch of girls in the throes of--what else?--drama!  I couldn't honestly hear everything they were saying; it sounded kind of like "Waaaaaaah eeeek screeech boys!  Waaaaaah eeeeeek screeeeeeech why?!  Waaaaaah eeeek screeeeeeech it's all because of Valentine's Day!"  I dispensed my pearls of wisdom (which you know is exactly what they were hoping for when they congregated in the bathroom), feeling a weird mix of sympathy and amusement.  Though I did find them a teensy bit ridiculous, but I remember being a teenage drama queen.  The only reason I didn't experience crazy Valentine's Day drama in high school is that when I finally stopped being boy repellent, I just never happened to be dating anyone on that fateful day.

Anyway, this brings us to the last specter: old married people Valentine's Day.  Today is an awesome day, though there were no roses, jewelry, serenades, carriage rides, or fancy dinners out.  To me, the best Valentine's gifts show that someone really knows you and cares about you, and I definitely got that today.  I have been putting off making a dental appointment (standard checkup, but I'm a lazy procrastinator), so Mark finally made me an appointment himself.  That's where I'll be this afternoon, and though it's the least romantic thing ever, don't we all need someone in our lives who makes sure we go to the dentist?  Also, he found me these awesome Breaking Bad valentines online:

What else do I need? Heppy Valentimes, everyone!