It’s another Valentines Day and my wife and I are both strenously avoiding anything that even hints at romance. We even turned down an offer of babysitting from my mom which is something not lightly done if you have kids!

Our first reason is that we have both of our birthdays plus a wedding anniversary within two weeks of Valentines Day. (Clearly bad planning on our part!)

The second is that there is something not conducive to romance in the notion of a day where everyone is commanded to be spontaneously romantic all at the same time!

In years past, we’ve been disappointed by mediocre food and bad service in restaurants overwhelmed by the crush of couples on Valentines Day.

We’ve been trying this boycott for a few years now and it’s worked out well. Far better to celebrate on a day when the whole world isn’t doing the same!