biotin hair growth

Valentines: His & Hers

Posted by | February 11, 2015 | BAMBINOS | 3 Comments

V day M

I’m not going to complain. I got off easy this year. (I am not ashamed to admit it: while I love the philosophy behind the hand-made-valentine, in all practicality, I am all for the store-bought type.) I mean, yes, Meera had to prepare 50 Valentines (50!). But, she did not have to write each individual receiving kid’s name on each one; only her own name as the giver. This is nothing — nothing! — compared to what we’ve done before… For example, the year we did this: [click here for link].

As for the boys… they have become real clever in their old age. For the first time ever they came up with the bright idea to do one fell swoop of V-Day giving — one round of valentines signed from “Kyle & Owen.” They only had to prepare 35 of those suckers. So, I got off real easy with that. Which can’t even be compared in the same league as, for example, the year we did this: [click here for link]. Holy heck! What was I thinking that February of 2010?!?!?!

Anyway, the point is this: I’m not going to complain. No sir, I am not. I will only remark very superficially on the following: His & Hers, or Boys vs. Girls, valentines.

Seriously people, this is a gendered holiday if ever there was one. And there is nothing more gendered than what goes on in my kitchen in the days leading up to V-Day.

I am a sociologist. So, this is especially hard for me to face, admit, and acknowledge. But, in all honesty, there is nothing like the lead-up to Valentines Day to highlight the fact that my children have somehow — despite all my best efforts — become the most gender-stereotypical-little-humans on the planet.

Meera could not wait to shop for those valentines. She carefully examined every option on the shelves of that God-forsaken aisle of the store. She chose with thought and deliberation. Then she could not wait to get home and write her name on every single one of those pink Brach’s-Conversation-Hearts little boxes. She truly savored every single minute of writing with that fine-point-Sharpie. And she lovingly placed each of those little boxes in a bag, and is now counting the hours until she can hand-deliver them to her friends. This is her kind of holiday.

V day boys 1

Kyle and Owen, on the other hand. Do I even need to recount it? They were edgy and annoyed at the mere mention that we were to stop to buy valentines on the way home from school. They could not get in-and-out of that store fast enough. The first options they laid eyes on were just fine, and were quickly snatched off the shelf. Once at home, they put off the assembly of these things until the very last minute, then begged for assistance because it was “soooooo haaaaaaaard” to put the ‘Air Head’ through the paper slot. Their hand-writing was sloppy and all they seemed interested in was that the fine-point-Sharpies smelled “sooooooo goooooood!” (whaaat?!?), and as a result they proceeded to get almost as much permanent black marker ink along the bottoms of their noses and their upper lips as they managed to get into script on the actual valentines. Ok, this might be slight exaggeration. But the use of “slight” here is not an exaggeration. I will tell you this: I am 100% positive that when they are grown they will not look back on this little elementary-school-V-Day-annual-ritual fondly. In their opinion the whole entire thing is just a big waste of time, money, and energy. Why would you do this when you could be playing Marble Blast on the computer? Or, better yet, shooting hoops?

Heaven help them. I really hope — for their sakes and for their their future loved ones’ — that someday they are making the big bucks so that they can just buy their girlfriends or boyfriends indulgent gifts for valentines then call it a day.

V day boys 2

3 Comments

  • Gail McCormick says:

    You’ve made my day which is fortunate since it’s snowing again–still–yet.

  • Candis says:

    I’m with K & O. There is something irksome about being forced to “share the love” on a particular day. Bags of store-bought candy, cheesy cards, false compliments–a confederacy of hypocrisy.
    Now excuse me while I run to Target to buy Valentines cards for Colin’s class, treats for my students, and a card for my mate–heh heh.

  • Kendall says:

    Wow, what a fascinating contribution to the whole nature vs. nurture argument. But I’m sure there’s a whole lot of nurture traits in their makeup too! : )

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.