Yes, I probably can (and might) do this for every "holiday". So, what's my problem with Valentine's Day? Well, I have a few, but I'm keeping this directed at the kids.
I grew up knowing that on Valentine's Day, I'd wake up with a small, heart-shaped box of chocolate and a small stuffed animal waiting on the kitchen table for me, from my mom. I loved that, I really did. I'd go to school, and everyone would decorate a brown paper bag to collect Valentine's cards in. Sometimes they had little candy hearts or lollipops or boxes of Nerds attached, and it was awesome. Until kids weren't so awesome anymore.
Let's face it, the older kids get, the meaner they get. Around 6th or 7th grade, there are more than a couple of asshole kids in every class. They'll either skip the Valentine thing all together, or worse, write really mean things to other kids. Then you hit high school, and nobody gets anything unless someone thinks you're special. This concept, I'm actually ok with because it's pretty much how real life goes.
I'm not a fan of setting kids up for failure. If you let them think that everyone thinks they're special from the beginning, they get crushed when they realize they aren't. And on the flip side, you let them grow up thinking they need to be people pleasers- picking the coolest, trendiest Valentine cards with the best candy and making sure everyone gets one. Definitely not a fan.
I know someone is thinking that I'm digging pretty deep here, and they're probably the ones who still feel like every kid needs to get a card.
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