‘Valentine’s Day for me? I have always found it to be a bit naff’
Standing in the aisle of a shop that looked like a red and pink paint bomb had gone off, I couldn’t help but wonder: what does Valentine’s Day mean to me? Nothing. I don’t want to sound like a cynical, unromantic 40-year-old woman, but I’ve always found Valentine's Day to be a bit naff.
Valentine's Day should be saved for young lovers, secret admirers, dare I say, unrequited love. But when you’ve been married for many years and have a family, is it important to celebrate Valentine's Day?
Like Halloween, Valentine's
Day feels bigger every year. Usually you’d just buy a card for your beloved and be done with it. Now, not only are we encouraged to buy cards for our partner but loads of members of our family. The most disturbing Valentine’s card I saw was for a mother-in-law!
Ignoring the commercial side, where supermarket flowers and restaurant menus are double the price, is it right to be forced to celebrate a day that doesn’t have any personal meaning to either of you? If anything, it makes sense to go out and celebrate on a day that has more meaning to your relationship, like your anniversary – a day you don’t have to share with others. People won’t be asking you what you received and you won’t be faced with their Instagram posts, declaring their love for each other, normally captioned, “OMG. Love this one.”
Don’t get me wrong – my husband James has bought me some lovely things over the years; he even wrote a song for me once. He can tell I’m not that bothered if I receive anything. One year we had that awkward moment where he had bought me a card and I hadn't bought him anything: “Sorry, I thought we weren’t bothering now.”
Do you know what I’d like for Valentine’s Day? A take-away and my James doing the washing up. That would be a demonstration of true love indeed. I know a lot of people who openly admit to buying their partner a card just because they don't want to risk upsetting them – not because they actually want to declare and document their love in a £3 card.
That said, if it makes others happy who am I to judge?
And if they see Valentine’s Day as a way of celebrating their love and spending time together on a date night, lovely. And on that note, don’t forget to look at the V2 Radio website’s Voucher Shop where you can get some gifts or dinners out for half the price.