What Valentine’s Day Means to Men vs Women

Valentine's Day Stress

What Valentine’s Day Means to Men vs Women

Chip and I spent some time over last weekend trying to come up with an idea for Valentine’s Day.  We love to do weekend getaways, but that doesn’t work this year.  Chocolates and flowers are nice, but too predictable.  Then Chip said, “Valentine’s Day is so stressful for men.”  What?!

According to Chip, men feel incredible pressure on Valentine’s Day.  To him, he feels the man has to deliver or the women get their feelings hurt.  I guess this feeling goes back to before he met me.  🙂

For me, I’ve always have given some thought to come up with something new and different, but within the red heart and romantic theme.  Some creativity and time … boom … you have a magic moment showing appreciation and love.  Chip can be assured he’s not getting a tool kit or wallet.

I Don’t Find Valentine’s Day Stressful At All.

Chip thinks that it may not be that big of thing on the actual day.  It’s the day after.  When the woman goes to work or talks to friends.  If Joan got s trip to Bermuda; Sarah got a diamond bracelet; and you got a homemade gift made from construction paper, that’s when the trouble begins.

So not true.

This is an actual quote from Chip.  “If Valentine’s Day is supposed to be all about love, why are gifts even part of it.”

Men … Valentine’s Day is about thought and appreciation demonstrating your love.  If there’s a gift that accompanies those two things, then your choice.  You did well just from doing thought and appreciation.

Good Point.  But, What Are the Alternatives?

I just read that Valentine’s Day originated as part of a pagan fertility ritual until the pope abolished it in the middle ages.

If you go with that theme, that means a little roll in the hay and you’re done.

But, we are over a certain age.  That has a limited shelf life … if you know what I mean. (well that doesn’t apply to Chip…he told me to put that in)

The Pope soon replaced the pagan part and made it St. Valentine’s Day.

OK, does that mean we have to go to church?  Not that I couldn’t use the payers.

After all this, a poet named Chaucer linked all this to love.

Kinda makes sense .  Fertility, if acted on with good intentions, equals love.  The essence of Catholicism is about faith and love.   Maybe we are on to something here.

Maybe There’s Even More to It

Chaucer’s the guy who wrote the Canterbury Tales.  That’s about an epic journey of people making a pilgrimage with the goal of being the first to arrive at the St. Thomas Beckett shrine.  All for a free bowl of soup at a well known inn for the winner.

Hmm can that be considered the basics of a relationship?.

You start out on an epic journey of life together and at the end all you get are some memories of adventures and, if you’re lucky, some soup.

Not About Hallmark or the Latest Groupon

I don’t know why, but for some reason, I had thought that Valentine’s Day was invented by the greeting card companies to fill the sales void between Christmas and Easter.

That’s why we Google.  I had no idea of the real history of the holiday.

All I know is once I started casually writing this, Chip started feeling the old pressures and is on Groupon trying to come up with a creative idea to celebrate.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

As long as you are with someone you love, all the rest is just window dressing.

Tell us what you got for Valentine’s Day.  I’ll laud it over Chip … totally kidding.