Well, At Least The Girls Like It...

Since she used to teach school, I asked my wife if grade school kids still make valentines with their little scissors, crayons and construction paper.  In my opinion, Valentine's Day should be all about a school party and "art" projects to be taken home to mom.  She thought that they still do though there are no doubt many more idiotic restrictions  than there were in the 1950's and '60's.  You know, some kid is probably allergic to paste or maybe there are now "trigger" words to be avoided when putting together the homemade love greetings.  Then it came to me that an accurate reading on all of this could be obtained simply by asking daughter Katie what Valentine's Day happenings were planned for our six year-old grandson Dan's class.

I started thinking of Valentine's Day and all the preparations for the faux holiday we boys liked in my grade school years of the 1950's.  The fact that there was a half day long party on the calendar and a few days of project time devoted to making the cards and decorations for the big event certainly was a plus.  We boys cared diddly about all that mushy love stuff but it did get us out of actual school work. The girls ate it up.  They took great pride in making fancy cards and elaborate boxes that were to be the receptacles for all the gooey declarations of love they expected to receive from their male classmates and BFF's.

We guys had a slightly different take on the process.  Our valentines were all poorly drawn, hastily prepared messy missives.  Our mailboxes were decorated with flames, guns and drawings of explosions.  As for our "hand crafted" cards, I specifically remember cutting out a picture of a vacuum cleaner and pasting it in the middle of a card for my mom.  (Even then I knew what it took to impress the ladies.) The big blob of paste  used to secure the picture oozed out the sides and clumped like cat flop all over the inside of my card.  I didn't care.  My pal, Lon Cooper, stole my idea but substituted a V-8 engine picture that I'm sure thrilled his mom.  Ronnie Smith, ever the clown,  selected a good sized hand picked booger and placed it on a spring lifted from his ballpoint pen that jumped right out of a heart made just for his mom.  If memory serves, Ronnie did not get to take that one home.  Nonetheless, his mom still visits him every other Valentine's Day at the state prison.  A mother's love is forever.

Ronnie at this year's state prison valentine party.

Not everyone can pull off this look.

So, in checking with youngest daughter, Katie, she has assured me that the Valentine's Day festivities are still very much a part of America's grade school culture and that the homemade cards for family and friends remain a staple.  I guess nobody has yet figured out a way to feel threatened or offended by all that mushy stuff.  Grandson Dan, now six, made his mom a valentine crown complete with antennae  and managed to slap together a semi-red blob that "sort of" looks like a heart.  (I'd love to see what kind of art work the girls in his class created.)

If you squint, this almost looks like a heart.

I have to say that in spite of my built in boy bias toward all things Valentine's Day related I am semi-delighted that the PC police are, at least for now, leaving this bit of cultural nonsense alone.  It's probably good that youngsters are being encouraged to openly express love and appreciation for family and friends.  I do believe it helps those of us of team XY to be more sensitive and caring.  As a matter of fact, this year in addition to the usual tickets to see the WWE, I'm tossing in TWO cases of beer as a Valentine's Day treat for my wife.  (Micro brew, no Bud.)  Dan has a long way to go before he tops grandpa.