Valentine's Day.

Let me start by saying this: I do not need a special day to tell my wife, "I love you." I should be telling her that every day. Period and end of story.

That said, I recognize that not all men are as incredibly wonderful and thoughtful as I am. Please, hold your applause. And laughter. Seriously though, I do not forget birthdays, anniversaries, the flower that was in our wedding (Stargazer Lilly), our china pattern (Lennox Urban Lights) or other important items. (I asked her to marry me on July 22, 1993. That kind of stuff.)

The problem many men have with Valentine's Day is we are expected to buy something special for someone special in our life. In addition, we are expected to be creative. Chocolate and flowers is not creative. Jewelry is not practical. We just had Christmas! The economy is in the tank. Yet we are expected to spend a ton of money on either flowers that will die, chocolates that will be eaten, jewelry we cannot afford or some creative and exotic vacation get away.

Now I will say, my wife is just not that way. She is practical and understands where we are in life, and she knows that I love her. I actually believe her. Maybe it is all a trap, yet I do believe her.

Let me say, if you are going to buy chocolate, make it good. For the last few years, there have been some commercials from Russel Stover candy where the men say they have to bring home chocolate, and the red heart box is a must. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su4dkqznVTg&feature=related

I am not attacking Russel Stover. I am sure they are fine people. However if you are going to give something to say, "I love you" you may want to choose something of higher quality than a red heart box of chocolate that was produced about 18 months ago. You may as well give M&Ms. The quality is just not there. I will allow that all chocolate probably tastes decent. Some is certainly better. There could be a good reason to give the cheap stuff. You may be a teenager and just don't know better. There could be some traditional reason-like you give it every year since you first became a couple and it brings back warm and fuzzy feelings. Or perhaps her taste buds were removed in a horrible flag pole dare incident back in elementary school.

Many grocery stores have a candy section with a good selection of fine chocolates. There is this fancy thing called the internet where you can find almost anything and can certainly order some nice chocolate. There are many opti0ns.

Or you could just take her to dinner, look deeply into her eyes, let her order what she wants, listen to what she says, open the door for her and spend some quality time together. That is better than any chocolate any day. At least that is what they tell us on Oprah. Not that any self respecting man watches that stuff.

Good luck.