My husband, bless him, is not a Valentines Day devotee. His keen, blokey eye is trained to notice other things – be they mechanical, electrical or have flames painted up the sides. Hearts and flowers? Not so much. And that’s fine, I know this about him…after all it’s been ten years and it’s not likely to change. Changing him has never been on my ‘to do’ list anyway – I’m quite fond of him how he is. I’m pretty sure he puts Valentines Day into the ‘why should I buy stuff just because greeting card companies tell me to?’ basket, and frankly I’m beginning to see his point.
I love to do things for the people I love. And in that way, I’m the perfect consumer for all the Valentines hooha. Walking through long aisles of strategically placed stuffed animals and sparkly cards, it’s almost as if the retail fairy is telling me that my nearest and dearest neeeeeeed these things. Oh yes, and of course my husband needs a stuffed bear with ‘I Wuv You’ written on it. He was just saying that last week. He’ll LOVE it. Ah, no. No he won’t. He’ll think I’m mad. He’ll be secretly thinking ‘what a waste of money’. Well, maybe not so secretly.
For him, (and as much as I love presents I have to agree), expressions of love are best made by things not bought at the mall. In fact, they’re usually not ‘bought’ things at all. Having a wife who is a loving mother to her children seems to be pretty high on his list of things that prove his wife’s love, much like having a husband who is a hands on dad with his kids is right up there on mine. I looked at it – looked at how we are together, as a couple and as a family – and I saw it. Our entire life is Valentine’s Day. That sounds lame, but it’s true. The true romance is in appreciating the efforts of your partner, matching them with your own, and then just being happy. Happy is the goal. And that’s really as it should be, not for one day, but every day of the year.
