Dear Christian and Jared,
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I want to remind you there’s something to be said for good, old-fashioned, romantic rituals. Even though you probably think Valentine’s Day is mostly a money gauging Hallmark-led conspiracy, rest assured girls still like it. And by the way, did you know Valentine’s Day was first linked to romantic love in the mid-14th century before Hallmark even existed? It was a time when courtly love flourished and a gentleman was expected to be noble and chivalrous in expressing his love and admiration for a lady. Sadly, good, old-fashioned romance has fallen out of style these days.
Maybe guys your age think it’s archaic, hokey and unmanly to be romantic, but it’s my guess you’re simply confused by feminist propaganda. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. While modern women (myself included) expect equal pay for equal work, are independent and make it clear we are fully capable of taking care of ourselves, deep down (even if we don’t admit it) we LOVE to be courted. Yes I said courted, as in swept-off-our-feet-weak-in-the-knees-hearts-all-a-flutter courted. We are suckers for the guy who brings us flowers, sings us love songs, takes us on real dates, opens doors, offers his coat, kills the spiders, turns off the phone and we are REAL suckers for VALENTINE’S DAY.
Christian and Jared, my hope for you is this. Someday when you find the girl who captures your heart, you will take the time to acknowledge your love with good, old-fashioned romantic rituals. My hope is you will do it on Valentine’s Day… and every day.
Now. In the meantime, since neither one of you has a sweetheart (or is willing to admit to having one) I’d like to remind you it’s been more than a decade since I received one of those paper-doily-construction-paper-cut-out-hearts. The way I see it, until you find that special someone, there is absolutely nothing creepy about your making Valentine’s Day all about me. You have two days. A poem is fine.
Love,
Mama
© 2014 Just Another Ordinary Day by Antoinette Datoc
Just Another Ordinary Day 
Great post- I laughed out loud at the last paragraph… And then forwarded it to my kids too!
I’ve received several emails and texts from friends making similar claims. My job is done. The way I see it, making good, old-fashioned romantic rituals cool again has the potential to solve a lot of problems! Hope they call and hope you have a Happy Valentines Day. (Feel free to forward it to Fred too!)
Reblogged this on Ask Ant and commented:
And now for some Valentine’s Day advice…
a poem is NOT fine…chocolates, flowers, day at a spa or all three!!!
Love it
Sent from my iPad
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