>As I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to realize just how many men complain about Valentine’s Day. You’d think with how much whining goes on that they were being forced to endure the rack or hang upside down by their toenails, when in fact all they are really being required to do to stay in good graces with their significant other is buy flowers, or chocolates, or go out to a nice dinner. Oh, you poor boys, that truly is cruel! Why would a woman that says she loves you make you go through all that?

For those of you who are still somehow confused about this whole Valentine’s Day thing, let me recap the situation for you. You men, especially those of you that are married, have a loving woman that puts up with you and your shenanigans day in and day out. Once a year, on Valentine’s Day, you are given the opportunity to do something special for her to show that you appreciate her. This could be something as simple as sending a card and some flowers, but apparently, for many of you, even this small thoughtful act is too much to ask for and you gripe about Valentine’s Day like it was a colonoscopy. Oh brother, you boys are pathetic.

As ridiculous as many men are about Valentine’s Day, I have discovered that women are not altogether blameless in giving Valentine’s Day a bad name. For some reason lots of women have decided that Valentine’s Day is simply all about them and not about showing the ones they love how much they care about them. Masses of women have evidently come to expect gifts and thoughtfulness from their men but have decided they need give nothing in return. Ladies, ladies, ladies…what’s up with that? No wonder your men are disgruntled about their Valentine’s Day experience. They put up with your constant mood swings and irrational behavior, right? Then would it really kill you to do something nice for them for Valentine’s Day? I think not. Besides, we are supposed to be the emotionally mature sex, aren’t we? With self-centered behavior like this we might as well kiss our “emotionally sensitive” status good bye. Don’t let the rest of us down-we don’t want to be on par with men in the “thoughtlessness” category, do we?

In short, I am disgruntled about all the Valentine’s Day disgruntlement. What’s up with all this mediocrity? Why not raise the bar a little?

I love Valentine’s Day. It gives me the chance to surprise Jason and do something nice out of the norm for him. He is, after all, a truly fabulous husband and deserves much more than I could ever give.

I also look forward to Valentine’s Day because it’s an excuse for me and Jas to get dressed up and go out together. This year it was Jason’s turn to plan our activities. He arranged for an evening up in Salt Lake City. We went to Martine for dinner and then to Ballet West’s production of Madame Butterfly. It was great spending some quality time with my extraordinary husband; we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

You boys may note that Jason survived planning this excursion and even going to the ballet. All of his appendages are still intact, he didn’t turn into a frog, and he probably won’t even be emotionally scarred for life. So if you boys stopped grumbling and put a little effort into Valentine’s Day, I’m pretty sure you would live through it. That goes for you ladies too. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, so you might as well enjoy it and party like a rock star!