Valentine's Day

I don't think Valentine's Day is all that important to maintaining a healthy marriage.  Now, that doesn't stop me from sending Valentine cards to my nieces and nephews, making Valentine cards with my children, and enjoying the fact that my parents and a sweet aunt send my children Valentine cards... and giving my Hubby a card.

That does not mean I think Valentine's Day is important to maintaining a healthy marriage.  Yesterday half of the day was over before I realized it was Valentine's Day.

What is important to maintaining a healthy marriage is that spouses take the time to romance each other, focus on each other, prioritize each other... take time away from the chaos of the children to say, "I still choose you, my Dear Valentine."

Now, that doesn't have to happen on Valentine's Day... in fact, it should happen many more days throughout the year besides Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is fun because its a break in the monotony of winter and stores get to sell pink candy -- a color missing from the candy they market at Halloween and Christmas.  Also, its nice that restaurants create special menus and become more romantic than usual in order to allow couples to be more romantic than usual.  That being said the two times that come to mine that Hubby and I went out to dinner on Valentine's Day, the restaurants were SO packed it took forever to get our food both times and we came home disappointed.

My favorite way to spend Valentine's Day is with my Hubby at home in front of a fire in the fireplace, watching a romantic movie of my choice, with a glass of wine and takeout Chinese food.  After we eat the Chinese takeout, we give each other foot rubs.  That is the perfect romantic Valentine's Day to me.

That is not how we spent Valentine's Day this year, in fact due to circumstances outside our control, I didn't see my Hubby all day... but that is fine.  Celebrating on Valentine's Day is not important to maintaining a healthy marriage... but we will have a romantic evening at some point in the near future.  We might have missed actual Valentine's Day, but we will romance each other, focus on each other, prioritize each other, take time away from the chaos of our wonderful children and say, "I still choose you, my Dear Valentine... even when its not Valentine's Day."