Valentine’s Day - does it fill you with joy or make you cringe? Do you think it’s blatant commercialism or a good excuse to spoil and be spoiled?
My early school days always saw me knowing that a card would drop through the door from ‘an admirer’ who was clearly my dad - sweet, but nothing to get my heart racing with excitement!
Early teens had me receiving all sorts of cards from unknown senders but never from the one who really mattered - yes, Chris Bryan, you have a lot to answer for! But I did have that unaccounted for card in 1979 … could it have been you? Allow me my dreams, please!
Then came the first boyfriend - and with him came ‘Snoopy’ and ‘Love Is …’ cards - yes I really am that old. He was a romantic at heart and, at fifteen, I felt he said and did all the right things.
Fast forward to the first (and last, other than hubbie) guy I lived with. Ten years! Ten years of hoping I might get a Valentine’s card or even a birthday card that hadn’t been bought by his mother! See why I left him?!
And now I’m married - have been for eighteen years - and I’ve found my true Valentine. Why? Because he makes me laugh - and I firmly believe that life, love and relationships are nothing without a good dollop of giggling.
Maybe that’s why I choose to put a sprinkling of humour in my books - I just feel it makes the world go round - and my male leads have a healthy sense of humour too. I’ve met some pretty dull men in my time and I know for sure I could never share my life with one and I certainly wouldn’t want to read about one as a romantic hero - if you don’t make me laugh, you won’t get my pulse racing. Mean and moody is OK for a short while but perlease, just make me giggle.
So what will my Valentine’s Day bring this year?
Well. we always make our own cards and then we pretend that they have been plopped through the letterbox by a passer-by. Names on the envelope are often misspelled or may say, ‘The lovely lady at no 37’. Daft, I know, but it’s tradition.
Our meal will be a deal from M&S or the fabulous ‘Cook’ - no real cooking involved and cheaper than deliberately over-inflated restaurant prices. And quite frankly, I don’t want to sit in a room full of couples dribbling over one another - or, more often than not, struggling to make conversation.
Our gifts will be simple - a CD, chocs or perfume/aftershave - I have a birthday three days after Valentine’s Day so hubbie has to work extra hard on ideas.
But we know we will laugh. Our conversation will flow and the giggles will be plentiful. You see, it’s what hubbie and I do best. We’ve had a tough few years financially, and we’ve just managed to keep our leaky old roof over our heads, but we firmly believe that one day we’ll look back on our dark times and see that they all happened for a reason - and you know what we’ll do then? Yep, laugh!
We’re a team. A double act. And without our sense of humour, we’d be nothing. No satin card or mega sized bouquet can beat that. No diamond ring or platinum bracelet. He’s my buddy and we fully intend to chuckle our way to our graves, batting away whatever life may throw at us.
So whatever you find yourself doing this Valentine’s Day, whether it involves a partner or not, do it with a giggle - it makes you feel good and it costs nothing.
Oh, and the ones where your mascara runs and your sides hurt - they’re the best.
Find out about Amanda Egan HERE
Find her books here
Twitter @Mummy_Misfit
DizzyC asks......What are you hoping for this Valentine's Day? Do you give it a miss?
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