Valentine's Day for Parents

Our supermarket goes all out.

Many people don’t like Valentine’s Day. I know some people who wear black on the day.

But Valentine’s Day can mean a special kind of bad for parents.

My teenaged daughter would like nothing more in the world than to have a boy give her something on Valentine’s Day. Her preference: a gigantic stuffed animal she can carry around school all day. But candy or flowers would be good, too.

Now, my husband and I could get her a stuffed animal, candy or flowers. There are towering displays of them at our supermarket.

But we can’t, of course. Because the actual gift doesn’t matter. What’s important to her is that it comes from an admirer.

 

It would actually be super-bad if the one Valentine she got came from her parents.

And telling her that both of us have had plenty of non-event Valentine’s Days is no help whatsoever.

So, all we can do is hope that some teenaged boy thinks to give her something and is brave enough to do it.

Meanwhile, our own teenaged boy, her younger brother, seems to have a crush on a certain girl. Not that he would ever say. We’re not allowed to even mention her.

So, it’s not looking like “She Who Must Not Be Named” is going to be getting any stuffed animals, candy or flowers (at least from our son) either.

I gave my kids, as I have every year since they were small, bags of chocolate kisses to give to whoever they come across: teachers, friends, strangers, maybe even “She Who Must Not Be Named.” And as I am sure they will, they should eat some of those kisses themselves. (Let that chocolate release some feel-good chemicals in their brains.)

It’s all I can do.