Valentine’s Day Brings Out Silly and Sentimental Gifts [OPINION]

What’s the weirdest thing you have ever received as a Valentine’s Day gift?

Since my birthday happens to be on Valentine’s Day (or “Birthentine’s Day” as my husband has taken to calling it) I have no shortage of crazy, fun and sweet memories of the day, from being treated to the full Medieval Times experience, to last year’s snow-covered celebrationcomplete with blanket forts and chocolate cake for breakfast for a week.Don’t judge, we had nothing else left in our fridge.

But for me, there are two gifts that stick out. The first is a fairly standard V-Day gift, a gigantic white teddy bear my husband presented me when we first started dating. Every time I look at her, I still remember being completely flabbergasted at the humongous box sitting on my parent’s front porch and wondering what in the world this crazy boy I was dating had gotten for me. “Maddie” is still hanging out in our back bedroom.

The second is a much more “geeky” gift: a personalized birthday greeting from a favorite actor of mine. This particular gift was made all the better with a drawing of said actor’s character that my husband (who happens to be a fantastic artist) made for me. My husband wasn’t the biggest fan of the series in question, but he knew how much the series and the character meant to me.That made it extra special. Besides, who wouldn’t love getting a personal message from their favorite celeb?

I’ve always believed gifts should be practical, except when it comes to Valentine’s Day. On that day, I’m a sucker for the sappy, sentimental and straight-up getting spoiled kind of gift-giving this holiday inspires. Though when I look back, I wonderif anyone else has received sappy, slightly unusual gifts over the years. I reached out to a few of my friends and got some pretty interesting answers, as well as some very unfortunate ones.

“My very first boyfriend in high school gave me a partially used iTunes gift card he found in his desk for Valentine’s Day,” Morgan said. “I didn’t date him for very long.”

“When I was in college, my girlfriend at the time gave me a toy lightsaber for Valentine’s Day,” Kevin said.“It was pretty funny to me. I gave her a stuffed bear and some chocolates.She gives me…a lightsaber.”

“I think I once got a small photo album of my girlfriend at the time, traveling and taking pictures with a stuffed frog I had let her hang on to,” Dave said. “I still have [the frog].”

“Next week, [my wife and I] are giving a couple of tired, first-year parents a break by babysittingfor them instead of going out,” Eric said.

Of course, there are any number of ways to show someone you care for them, spending time with them, preparing a meal together, taking care of their chores, etc. Valentine’s Day is not all about the gifts, but sometimes it’s fun to look back on the strange and the silly things that still make us smile and think about our loved ones. The most important part of it all is showing your Valentine you care about them in whatever form that takes.

What are my husband and I doing for Valentine’s Day this year? All I’ve been told is it’ll be a complete “mystery” to me. But whatever he’s got planned, I know it will be just as memorable and fun as all the other “Birthentines” I’ve been lucky enough to share with him.

Here’s hoping you and your Valentine have a lovely celebration this year!