What? No 14 karat gold-dipped rose?

Happy Useless Valentine's Day. What a bullshit holiday. Had I been single, this day would probably make me feel depressed or excluded from the pointless festivities. If Brett and I were in a new relationship, we would have probably spent entirely too much money on gifts that we really didn't need. All in the name of love. Now that I have 3 children, things are a little different on Valentine's Day. For example, this year, I began my Valentine's shopping at Target in December. They had REALLY cute light blue felt gift bags in the dollar bin. They didn't look too "girly" so I picked them up. Over the past few weeks, I also collected a few items to fill those bags with. Some bath fizzies, a stuffed dog for each boy (Will named his Scarfy), a little bit of candy, and a new toothbrush for everyone. Nothing extravagant. It is only Valentine's Day after all I tried to remind myself. Then, I started to turn the corner and get into one of my holiday frenzies typically reserved for Christmas or birthdays. The kind where I drive myself insane trying to make the day perfect, coordinated, precious. The kind where I am temporarily rendered an amnesiac, forgetting that my children will not allow ANY day to be perfect. I reminded Brett a day ahead of time to get me a card so that I wouldn't be disappointed. I (along with some help from the good folks at Pillsbury)made Cinnamon Twists and orange juice with Will for breakfast. I hung balloons. There was crepe paper involved. If you know me at all, you're starting to get a picture of what was going down. And, I'm happy to say, everything turned out pretty well. We had a great red and pink, chocolate covered, conversation heart kind of morning. In fact, Will had these exact words to say about it, "This is the best Valentine's Day. You did a real good job. Thanks, Dad.". No shit.