Ah, Valentine’s Day. A day of red and pink hearts, candy, flowers, and love (so they say).
I’ll be honest. I hate pink, I’m allergic to flowers, and I think Valentine’s Day is more trouble than it’s worth. My husband loves me every day. We don’t need a day set aside for loving each other, because we’re supposed to be doing that all the time.
Admittedly, my love language is definitely not gifts. (If you don’t know what a love language is, I highly recommend the book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Languages-Secret-That-Lasts/dp/0802473156/ref=asc_df_0802473156/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241916856624&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13727265565615956830&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011601&hvtargid=pla-405427385447&psc=1). To find your love language, try this quiz: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/. Mine is quality time, followed by acts of service. I would rather sit at home with my husband than get expensive gifts. When he really wants to spoil me, he washes the dishes.
The worst part about Valentine’s Day is when a couple have widely different ideas about the holiday. If a wife is expecting a gift and her husband cleans the house instead, his expression of love is lost on her, and can cause her feelings to be hurt. Her lack of thankfulness can, in turn, hurt his feelings. Husbands can feel used and left out if they don’t get gifts, or they may feel like the day should be about the ladies and be offended if their wife gets them anything. In many houses, Valentine’s Day causes a lot of stress and not a lot of happiness or love.
For a couple like my husband and I, Valentine’s Day just isn’t anything to get excited about. For single people, it can feel like a day meant to make them feel miserable. Nobody wants to be reminded that everyone around them is madly in love. What’s worse is that the love expressed on Valentine’s Day is often a facade. Many couples try to hide relationship problems and show the world only what they think their relationship should be, not what it really is. This can make singles or people in less than stellar relationships feel envious of a “perfect relationship” that is anything but perfect.
Do you know who loves gifts and other expressions of love the most? My dogs.
Hear me out: I know we love our pets every day, but I think having a day devoted to loving our pets would be more fun and exciting than a day devoted to loving our significant others. When my husband buys me flowers, he gets a thank you and maybe a peck on the lips. When my husband buys Mason a gift, he gets tail wags, smiles, grunts of happiness, and usually some slobber. When I buy Belle a gift, I get to watch her erupt in pure joy, get the zoomies, run around the house, bark, whine, and play until she exhausts herself.
In conclusion, Valentine’s Day is the result of corporate greed and causes more strife than joy. We should buy presents for our pets and dote on them all day instead. They’ll appreciate it more than humans do, and the day will be less stressful for all involved.
What are you getting your pet for Valentine’s Day?
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Pets & Poetry 