Written by Samantha
Flowers, chocolate, candles, moonlit walks with the perfect man. Valentine’s Day. The one day each year that all of our romantic dreams come true…… or not. Actually….. Valentine’s Day is often a huge let down. Maybe it’s because of high expectations…… or sometimes because we’re so desperate for a date on Valentine’s day that anyone will do. Not that I speak from experience or anything. Sometimes it’s because our idea of what Valentine’s day should be isn’t the same as his idea.
I will always remember my first Valentine’s day with my husband. Looking back, its hard not to laugh. (Not at him, at myself.) He gave me a card and a 4 foot teddy bear. Surely the bear wasn’t the gift. I just knew there was a treausre waiting for me in the card….. no. Maybe hidden in the heart the bear was holding? No. What was I supposed to do with a giant teddy bear? Where would I store it? I didn;t hide my disappointment very well. I’m not sure what I was expecting exactly but that wasn’t it. We hadn’t made dinner reservations and we couldn’t get in anywhere. We finally found a place that was still taking names- after 2 hours we were seated.
Now we make dinner reservations in advance- followed by a movie. We’re home by 10 . We exchange cards and that’s enough.
I’ve heard some funny Valentine’s Day experiences over the years. We want to hear about your worst V-day date or embarrassing experience (I have one I’ll share later…….) Blind date gone wrong? Stood up? Dumped on the most romantic day of the year? Most of us have been there. Share your Valentine’s Day disappointments with your friends at Imperfect Women. We won’t tell anyone.
4 foot Teddy Bear? Bless him for the thought!
I am trying to think if I have a story worthy of retelling. Valentine’s Day is up there with New Year’s Eve as another “holiday” where expectations are high and the actual experience tends to be a let down (for me anyway).
As soon as you tell me that dining out is going to be a) way more crowded than usual and b) more expensive — I typically lose interest very quickly.
Now, ‘the chocolate’ is a whole other story….
I have been married for 33 years this May so it is hard for me to remember any dating stories from Valentine’s Day. I don’t think I have any horror stories.
I do know that I have received one (actually probably more like five) too many teddy bears (what can someone in their 50s with no grandchildren do with all those teddy bears anyway?) for Valentine’s Day over the years from my husband and I think that he gets that a card and going out to dinner is enough now.
I do however appreciate any chocolate that comes my way.
I finally threw the bear out when we moved last but I think it really hurt his feelings! I regretted it immediatley, but where do you keep a 4 ft teddy bear?????
When my H and I were dating we went to a popular upscale restaurant. We were squeezed into a little corner right where the servers continuously pass. A server DUMPED an entire tray on my H’s back before we even ate our dinner! They only offered to “reimburse” our dry cleaning bill for his shirt! Can you believe it?
We’ve never been back since.
We had just moved and he had to go back to our home town to wind up some things at his office. I was in the new house unpacking 60 million boxes and wrangling two hyper little kids and a pouting teenager who hadn’t wanted to uproot, as well as the dogs (no fence so they had to be walked three times a day) and when he calls, he’s dumb enough to tell me he is going out to a nice dinner with friends of ours at home and then staying in a nice, quiet, organized hotel… Happy Valentines Day my rear end.