 |
| This could have been me, but it wasn't! |
HAPPY VALENTINES WEEKEND everyone!
Hope you've been enjoying the Valentines/Presidents Day(s) long weekend combo. I had the BEST Valentines Day, so good I wanted to share it with you.
I didn't get a card.
I didn't get candy.
I didn't get flowers.
Now, I know it doesn't look like much on paper, but hear me out! When I was a kid, my parents used to make the HUGEST deal about Valentines Day! My dad would always get candy and flowers for my mom and my sister and I would usually wake up to cards and presents. As you can imagine, that made me feel pretty special. The problem is, I mistakenly thought the cards/candy/presents were what made me special, rather than the emotion behind them. This set up a rather unfortunate standard for my poor husband, who has suffered through many holidays since with a wife who was pouting because he didn't "do Valentines/Easter/Christmas right". I know! Poor guy.
Because here's the thing about my husband:
1. He's ridiculously supportive. Seriously, if I called him into the room right now and told him I'd decided my life's calling was to teach pole-dancing to the Amish? He'd be all, "Um...okay. So when do you need me to watch the kids?"
2. He leaves me sweet notes and texts and facebook posts telling me he loves me ALL THE TIME. Just because! He also surprises me with flowers on random days, just because. Sigh.
3. He knows that if he brought me candy? I'd definitely be thrilled, until it was gone. Then, in my sugar crash, I'd be the one whining, "WHY would you give me candy?!! Do you HATE me?"
So listen to what he did on Valentines. First, he let me SLEEP IN. And then? He did something that NO card or bunch of flowers or California Brittle (my favorite See's candy, fyi) could ever do:
He took our daughter out to lunch. Just the two of them. Yes, he did this for Valentines Day, but this is something he does ALL the time. Takes time just for her, to do what she wants, to listen to her and to make her feel special. And seeing her smile to herself when they came home? Best. Valentine. Ever.
Do you see where I'm going with this? For years, I was so hung up on whether all the boxes had been checked that I almost missed the really good stuff!
I also came across this uh-mazing post by Leonie Dawson on the true meaning of Valentines Day-I think she says it way better than I'm doing here. So just go read what she wrote-seriously, you won't be sorry! You might even discover you had a better Valentines Day than you thought.
http://leoniedawson.com/soulmates/
Hope you ALL had a wonderful Valentines weekend, and that you feel loved. Because you are!
Wishing you love with extra cheese-
Nacho Mama
