{"id":1177,"date":"2011-02-14T15:52:14","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T23:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.com\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2012-05-13T13:01:59","modified_gmt":"2012-05-13T20:01:59","slug":"cupids-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/cupids-kiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Cupid’s Kiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Happy Valentine\u2019s Day everyone!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit, I\u2019ve never been a big fan of this Hallmark holiday. I don\u2019t really have a good reason why – especially since I\u2019m such a huge fan of the assorted chocolates associated with it. Maybe it\u2019s because there\u2019s just so much pressure involved on what we\u2019re \u201csupposed\u201d to do.<\/p>\n

I do remember looking forward to Valentine\u2019s Day as a kid. We\u2019d all make shoebox mailboxes covered in red, pink and white construction paper. Elmer\u2019s Glue would coat our little hands as we finished cutting out folded hearts in contrasting colors and lined them with lace borders. After recess we\u2019d all file back into the classroom – each personalized shoebox sitting atop our assigned desks, eagerly awaiting candy donations and cartoon greetings. You weren\u2019t allowed to pick and choose your valentines; everybody got one.<\/p>\n

So all 32 kids in Mrs. Kaplan\u2019s third grade class were my sweethearts. By the end of the day, my box would be tearing at the seams – laden with Sweethearts, cherry lollipops and individually wrapped chocolates. I\u2019d rocket out to the playground high on sugar from what I\u2019d already devoured of my bounty and the cupcakes someone\u2019s mother was sure to have brought to celebrate the day.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t really celebrated it since I moved on from the decorative footwear receptacles of elementary education. Here and there my parents would get my brother and me a little something. Once I moved away to college, my grandmother would unfailingly send me a box of See\u2019s Candy. (Oh, how I love Mary See\u2026) Jon and I have never done anything to mark it as special.<\/p>\n

One year Jon moseyed into work on a February 14 morning. \u201cWhat\u2019re you doing for your girlfriend today?\u201d inquired a colleague (we weren\u2019t married yet, so the girlfriend referred to is me). Jon casually replied that he had no plans based on my ambivalence. A horror-filled tension immediately filled the air. Didn\u2019t he know girls were lying when they said they didn\u2019t care about Valentine\u2019s Day? Everyone returned to work the following day with a sadistic curiosity about how far Jon had fallen. I actually think there was some disappointment that the only result was a bit of chuckling over their concern.<\/p>\n

I approached the holiday this year much in the same fashion as the decades previous. But then the muppets got their very first Valentine. It was a red bumble bee from two of their little friends. Cards from G.G. soon followed. I was so excited to see that she\u2019d found not one, but TWO, great-grandson cards.<\/p>\n

Getting more and more into the spirit, the muppets and I gathered up our gear and headed off to the NICU. Search and Destroy both gave me extremely wary looks – neither seemed to think purposely and willingly re-entering that locale was a very good idea. Search presented Nurse June with a cliched heart-shaped box of chocolates. Destroy clutched one for Nurse Susan (sorry if it\u2019s a little chewed on.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for helping me get big and strong so we could go home. Will you be my Valentine?\u201d We also sent our good vibes and healthy chubby baby thoughts to all the current NICU residents, that they may be home asking for Irish kisses next month.<\/p>\n

Happy Valentine\u2019s Day to you and all your loved ones. My cherubic chubby little muppets send you kisses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Valentine\u2019s Day everyone! I\u2019ll admit, I\u2019ve never been a big fan of this Hallmark holiday. I don\u2019t really have a good reason why – especially since I\u2019m such a huge fan of the assorted chocolates associated with it. Maybe … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[12,19],"tags":[90,242],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-iZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2188,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/why-my-kids-will-one-day-tell-their-therapist-mommy-never-loved-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":0},"title":"Why My Kids Will One Day Tell Their Therapist Mommy Never Loved Them","date":"February 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Valentine\u2019s Day. This holiday isn\u2019t really my cup of tea. Sweethearts taste like chalk and the over-abundance of cherry-flavored lollipops remind me of children\u2019s medicine. Overpriced wilted roses and an exorbitantly priced prix-fixe menu with funny foods I don\u2019t understand. (Give me a summer ballgame with a Dodger dog\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Products"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/sees-candy-heart-chocolates_bcd12aef.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4225,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/valentines-day-not-even-pinterest-enough-to-fail\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":1},"title":"Valentine\u2019s Day: Not Even Pinterest Enough to Fail","date":"February 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I won\u2019t sugarcoat it. Valentine\u2019s Day is not my thing. It is a shmoopy memorial brought into being by the greeting card industry. A Hallmark holiday celebrated via a weaponized fat toddler (who would realistically kill the romance in any relationship with the pungent aroma of a full diaper if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holidays"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Heart-Minnie-300x281.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2196,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/my-funny-valentine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":2},"title":"My Funny Valentine","date":"February 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Valentine\u2019s Day. And I had not one, but TWO fantabulous dates. 5:57 p.m.: Our dinner date begins. Whirling dervish of paws and fur greets us at the door. Muppets involved in chaos \u2013 extent of which remains undetermined. Run upstairs to change into appropriate outfit \u2013 running shorts and well-worn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3688,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/techmom-tuesday-the-christmas-card-conundrum\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":3},"title":"TechMom Tuesday: The Christmas Card Conundrum","date":"December 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I write a monthly column over at\u00a0AlliOSNews. It\u2019s a techie site \u2013 extolling all the goodies and gunpowder on the Apple OS. (SHINY TOY!) I\u2019m TechMom. And these are my stories on how technology is really used. This is what you must deal with, as I am a Silicon Valley\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holidays"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Letter-to-Santa-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2481,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/mothers-day-activities\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":4},"title":"Mother\u2019s Day Activities","date":"May 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"G.G. hated Mother\u2019s Day. She viewed it as a mass-market sales ploy for the greeting card industry. I can\u2019t say I disagree \u2013 it\u2019s very similar to how I\u2019ve always felt about Valentine\u2019s Day. At best, I\u2019d say I\u2019m indifferent. Because, you see, I\u2019m a mother every day. Nevertheless, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Celebrations"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2200,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wineconed-wednesday-st-valentine-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":5},"title":"Wineconed Wednesday \u2013 St. Valentine Edition","date":"February 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you reading\u00a0A Nervous Tic Motion Yet? You should be. I write a weekly column there \u2013\u00a0Wineconed Wednesdays. You know you want to throw some. And I would really love for you to join in! St. Valentine was eventually imprisoned, beaten, stoned and ultimately beheaded. They don't tell you that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A Nervous Tic Motion"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Chris-Brown-242x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}