Valentine's Day

I don't feel very strongly about Valentine's Day, which seems to put me in a strange minority, as a lot of folks seem to be either loving it up or adamantly against it. Both camps have their points. I agree with those who dislike how commercialized it has become-- though that is also true of any holiday these days. At the same time, I don't buy into the "you should show her you love her more often than once a year" argument because if you think about it, that sort of "special attention" holds true at birthdays, anniversaries... and those come but once a year as well, and nobody lambasts such celebrations. Besides, if you shower your loved one with that kind of affection too frequently, the effect kind of wears of. Sort of like building up tolerance...

Anyway, our Valentine's Day was pretty low-key. We were so busy that we both forgot about it, until I dropped Todd off at school yesterday morning and noticed that all the othere parents were bringing their kids in with cards to hand out to their classmates! Eep! I felt bad that Todd didn't have anything for his friends, but looks like almost every kid brought something. Here is his little cache of Valentine cards:



At work, we got cupcakes! And in each person's mailbox was a little tin filled with "motivational" M&Ms. I guess they served a dual purpose: remind employees of the company's mission (the tins were labeled with "Connecting people like never before with fearless innovation and flawless tools") and give them a little Valentine's Day treat, as the candy was colored red, white, and beige. You can see the words "fearless" and "flawless" stamped on the back of each M&M:



As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I've been in training all week, which adds a bit of variable flexibility to my schedule. Yesterday we managed to finish ahead of schedule, which allowed Allan and me to pick up Todd together. He didn't seem too fazed at the sight of BOTH of us there, surprisingly. I was expecting him to say "Why are TWO of you picking me up?". Anyhoo, we trooped straight to IHOP from school, enjoying a nice little family dinner in honor of Valentine's Day :-) Nothing quite like breakfast for dinner, and then sharing some chocolate chip pancakes with my son for dessert! :-9

So... not the most sweepingly romantic of days or anything, but lots of fun nevertheless. And there's nothing quite like hearing "Happy Valentine's Day, Mommy" from little man... even if it was said in reciprocity :-)

(originally posted at: http://www.myspace.com/hellykwee/blog/358372420)