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PiscesJust a Guy Who HATES Valentine's Day
Okay, if we men are really honest, we'll admit how much we HATE Valentine's Day. Just so I don't get too much grief for this, I'll state up-front how much I love my wife. I do. And, she can cook.
Bruce Sallan: BUT, I rarely get it right with presents, especially on V.D.! I'm supposed to read her mind, of course. I thought that buying flowers at Costco a couple weeks ahead of "the special day" was a cool idea (plus, they were cheaper then than they are around V.D., when we get ripped off). That didn't pan out too well.
I'm doubly screwed each year because my wife's birthday is just three weeks after V.D. So, I have to figure out back-to-back "just right" gifts. Starting in early February, the pressure begins to build until it peaks near the "big day." Now, I did get it "right" for a "big" birthday she had a couple of years ago, when I took her heliskiing for her first time! (See the amazing photo of where we were!)
This year, she's decided to take matters into her own hands. As we're going on a big trip next month, she explained that at one of our stops they have some sort of special pearls. So, for both her birthday AND Valentine's Day, I'm getting her pearls. I don't know my budget, as she's just taken over. In my feeble male brain, I'd sort of thought the "big trip" would suffice.
Maybe I'm better off with her taking over? Maybe not. What do I know, other than that I HATE Valentine's Day 'cause I'm just a guy.
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Bruce Sallan gave up his showbiz career a decade ago to raise his two boys, now 13 and 16, full-time. His internationally syndicated column, A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW, is his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now as a newly remarried dad in a blended family. Join Bruce's A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW fan page at Facebook and follow him on Twitter. To contact Bruce, visit his new website brucesallan.com. |
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- 15 Comments
Bruce, I know that’s the truth about how most guys feel - but I sure hope, per your words, that you are TCB!
As a woman who has been married for many many years, I can tell you that I hate valentine day too! I hate spending money on cards that cost too much and candy that I really don’t need to eat or flowers that die in a couple of days. I love my husband and I tell and show him everyday, I don’t need one day to tell me how to show it.
I’m neutral to Valentine’s Day. I mostly enjoy it for my boys (since they are my valentine’s). BF and I are just happy to be with each other and don’t need to do anything special.
This woman hates V-Day too. =)
Bruce, thank you for speaking for this man - and I know many, many others. I love that you speak “the truth” and don’t hold back. However, I’d rather not be in your home when your wife reads this and some of your other blogs - lol.
Oh look, more gender stereotyping — that’s the Valentine’s Day present that keeps on giving.
what’s worse than thinking of the perfect gift for a woman is thinking of one for a man. there are just very limited options which is the same headache that comes at least 3 times a year: Vday, Bday, Xmas. +_+
I’m a woman that absolutely hates VD also.
I don’t like it, we don’t waste money on it. It’s just another day. It was fun for my 3yr old to do the whole valentine cards thing in his preschool, but that is about it.
Bruce, you are the man. BUT, geez, too much wasted effort on why men and women hate Valentines Day. Blah, Blah, Blah. Just don’t stress. Get a nice card, take your sweetheart out for a nice cozy dinner. Even more fun, the two of you decide on what to cook, go together to the supermarket and pick up the ingredients, then come home and open a bottle of wine and cook together. Fun, romantic, and stress free. If you screw up the dinner….even more fun and stories to tell. So everyone needs to stop complaining and just have fun with it. It is not s death sentence to have a romantic evening with your significant other. Life runs at us so fast. V day gives a time to pause and tell that someone special you love them. Even if you do it often during the year.
I like Valentine’s Day. It’s one more chance to celebrate your love. It takes a little effort, but most couples would forget to do anything without special occasions.
I’m not that much into Valentines Day myself. We do a card for each other and he gives me flowers but he expresses his love for me in so many ways throughout the year that it’s not really needed.
My favorite part of Valentines Day is I have another excuse to make him a batch of brownies.
Not only do I dislike Valentine’s Day, I dislike holiday’s in general. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, you name it … I dislike them … and “dislike” is UNDERSTATING it. For my own birthday, to be remembered with “hey, happy birthday” from associates, or in a phone call from a loved one, is absolutely sufficient. The best Christmases I have ever spent were those I spent in Islamic and Buddhist nations … the point being, Christmas is at best a small-scale matter of interest among very specific segments of the population. Valentine’s Day sucks more than the usual no-reason-in-the-world-for-existing holiday. Heaven is a place where I don’t have to buy cards, nor worry about choosing gifts (other than seeing something randomly that I think I’d like to give a friend or loved one for no reason other than the relationship is pleasing, and then giving it to him or her), nor worry about whether I have to go into it’s-the-thought-that-counts rationalization mode to find any meaning in a gift I may receive on an official-gift-giving-day occasion.
Great article. Nice and fun reading. I have a single observation to submit about t-shirts.
I think Valentine’s Day is starting to get some public pushback, which is just fine by me.
I mean, it’s a fake “holiday” 100% designed to encourage consumer spending. I mean, I know the originals of St. Valentine and all that…but it’s turned into a consumer’s nightmare.
For me, I do my absolute best to tell my significant other than I love them every day…not just one day of the year. And I’d much rather do something special for her when it’s NOT expected.
So yeah…you’re definitely not alone with your feelings on this particular day.