Whether it’s trying to figure out the perfect plans for that special day, or figuring out how to disappear into a hole that day and pretend the holiday isn’t even happening, Valentine’s Day brings up mixed feelings among the female population. Here are 5 reasons why the holiday was much better in those good old innocent days of Elementary School:
1. Deliberately choosing who got the “Good Valentines”
You know you did it. Choosing who got the best Valentines in the box was a calculated and meticulously executed art. Whether it was for the cute boy you had a crush on since kindergarten or your best friend, you always picked the prettiest Valentines from your Disney Princesses or Winnie the Pooh box of fold-over Valentine cards and stickers to give to them. And that girl who used to pull your hair on the bus? She got the ugly leftover ones.
2. Spending the whole day decorating your Valentine box
The entire day in school on Valentine’s Day, your Math workbooks and Spelling copybooks lay forgotten in your desk while you spent hours painstakingly decorating your Valentine box. Naturally, you always wanted to create the most creative box, in hopes of ensuring you’d attract the most Valentine cards.
3. The Class Party
It was every third grader’s dream and every dentist’s nightmare. On Valentine’s Day the class moms descended upon your homeroom at the end of the day armed with batches upon batches of cookies, chocolates, cupcakes, and any other sugary treat you could imagine. You could hardly sit still at your desk all morning anticipating the all the fun you’d have at the party. And of course you can’t forget, all those gross chalky boxes of Sweetheart candies that were inevitably placed in every homeroom mom goodie bag. But we still ate them anyway.
4. You got a Valentine from everyone in the class
We were taught good manners very young. It was part of the rule of giving out Valentine cards and treats: if you were going to give them out, you needed to bring one for every person in the class. This is a lesson that I still think about ten years later. On a day designed to show how much we care about our friends and family, isn’t it worth the extra little effort to make sure no one gets left out?
5. No Pressure
In the end, Valentine’s Day in elementary school was a fun celebration. There were no feelings of inadequacy. There was no pressure to show each other up with more amazing plans than the next girl. We took it for what it should be: a day to enjoy showing our loved ones how much we care about them. So why not take a cue from elementary school and rethink your attitude on Valentine’s Day this year?