How come Scooby Doo and Dick Clark never get older?

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day! 

As we speak, hearts are being broken in elementary classrooms all across the country.  Do you remember exchanging Valentines in grade school?  Did your school have the unwritten, semi-mandatory rule about everyone getting a Valentine from everyone?  I do not know if they still do that, or ever did in your school, but I think I have heard of such things  CJ is 15 and would only care about a Valentine's gift if it involved him eating chocolate.  I was not one of the hundreds of moms in The Target yesterday buying cards and candy. 

I gotta tell ya, 'cause I know you all can't get enough of my Target stories, that it was really awesome to see all those folks buying stuff yesterday.  My store is going through a remodel right now and things are in a bit of disarray.  Oh, it bugs!  As you go through this, you sometimes get caught up in it and forget that you are there to sell stuff.  Fortunately, we remembered in time to be ready for this onrush of guests yesterday.

So back to my original thought on elementary school Valentines exchange.  My grade school (St Albert the Great in Louisville, Ky) did not have such a rule.  It actually made things a bit more exciting.  You never knew who was actually going to get you a valentine, and if one came from a girl-woot!  Pretty sure none of us back in the '70s said woot, but I am trying to relate.

So there I was, in the 5th or 6th grade knowing I was giving cool Valentines to my guy friends, probably with Ponch and Jon on them, or Spiderman, or Superman, or Scooby Doo; but also holding a couple of "special" ones for the girls I had a crush on.  I remember that if you exchanged one with a girl, it was a big deal.  It was very likely that if you gave one to her, and she had one for you, you were going to be married someday.  That is how things worked back then.

So in the 5th grade, I had one ready for Regina Gamboa.  I had it bad.  She was short, cute, and Filipino.  We would arm wrestle and I would push her down and do all the things that boys do when they are trying to woo a fellow 5th grader.

In the 6th grade, it was Lauren Johnson.  I think hair pulling was my big move that year.

As an aside, I found that this technique does not work when you are working at a department store with your future wife.  I was about to get a running start to knock Beth into a rack of Coca Cola denim, cause I really liked her a lot, when I was clued in that that technique died on the playground in 8th grade.  Good to know.

I know I will be ruining the suspense, but I cannot remember if I got a valentine from any of these PYTs back then.  I will guess not for two reasons.  First, we are not married and that was the rule.  Second, I was a real dork and there were not a line of girls coming to my yard with milk shakes.

Now I am in the 41st grade (I was held back a couple years) and actually got my Valentine a gift.  We do not usually exchange because every day is Valentine's day at our house.  However, I bought Beth a book.  CJ and I are VERY excited about the movie version of The Hunger Games coming out next month.  Beth has never read the book.  We would very much like to take our best girl with us to the movie, but if you do not know who Katniss Everdeen is or anything about the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale; you will be lost at the movie.

I hope you all get what you want for Valentine's day.  I know I did.  Woot!