For children, Valentine’s Day is a day full of homemade cards, heart-shaped chocolate boxes and sugary conversation hearts. But as you get older, things get a bit more complicated. With all the expectations people place on Valentine’s Day and the need to have the “perfect” romantic celebration, you’re bound to hit some bumps along the way.
We got some moms to share their worst Valentine’s Day nightmares — their stories might even inspire you to plan something disaster-proof this year.
1. Mistaken identity
A sweet love note is often more precious than jewelry — as long as it comes from the heart. It’s no wonder Lisa Rosenberg, of Smacksy, was excited to find a beautiful valentine sitting on the car seat when her date picked her up. The only problem: “It was addressed to Amy. I’m Lisa.”
2. Hospital honeys
Food poisoning and dehydration landed Ashley Bunker of Memoirs, of a Modern Day Wife, and her valentine in the hospital when she came down with a stomach bug. Luckily the romance wasn’t all lost. “We got to share a room, in our hospital johnnies, hooked up to IVs, throwing up in bed pans.” Now that’s love.
3. Unexpected present
On her way to a romantic V-Day dinner with her husband, Alyson Herzig, of The Shitastrophy, decided to stop by the house they were having built. “We found that one of the workers had taken a dump in our laundry room and left it, along with their used toilet paper. Any chance of romance was pretty much flambéed after having to scoop up someone else’s crap on your brand new home’s floor.”
4. Flu fondue
Back when Binkies & Briefcases blogger Stephanie Giese was still dating her husband, they decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day at a fancy fondue restaurant. Unfortunately, the date night ended prematurely when a nasty case of the flu caused Giese to utter the oh-so romantic words: “Take me home before I start barfing.”
5. All talk, no plan
Tell a woman she’s going to have a great Valentine’s Day and her head will instantly fill with images of dinner and a movie, a romantic homemade meal or even a moonlit stroll on the beach. Back in high school, Project Motherhood blogger, Allison Cooper, was no exception so when her boyfriend “talked some pretty big game,” she expected something spectacular when she opened the door. Instead, “I opened the door to find him empty handed. He didn’t really have any plans at all!”
6. Little date crasher
When her little ones came down with the flu, Herzig and her husband were forced to change their plans. Instead of dining out at the hottest new restaurant in town, her husband “tried to salvage our plans and ordered our entire meal as takeout.” However, after days of being too sick to eat, her daughter finally regained her appetite. “That night my 4-year-old ate my entire $50 filet mignon.”
7. Ghosts of V-Day past
Finding 100 red roses on your doorstep sounds like a scene out of the best rom-com. It’s no surprise Rosenberg was beyond ecstatic to find flowers on her doorstep — until she realized that the romantic gift she thought was from the new guy she’d been dating was actually from her ex. So she did what any good woman would do: “donated the flowers to a nursing home.”
8. Calendar confusion
It felt like a blessing from Cupid himself when Cooper’s future husband was awarded military leave just in time for the most romantic day of the year. After days of envisioning the perfect Valentine’s Day, she accidentally overlooked his flight plans. “It ended up that he hadn’t really taken a focused look on his plane ticket, and he had to rush out the door at about 5am on Valentine’s Day to make it to [the airport] on time!”
9. Ice cream chills
In high school, a Valentine’s date with the tough guy in school was the epitome of cool. Bunker was beyond excited for her big night out — until she realized her date didn’t have “a clue how to sweep a girl off her feet.” A romantic night at the local ice cream parlor turned into a disaster when he invited all his rowdy friends to join. Fed up with the chaos, Bunker says she “used the ice cream parlor’s phone to call my mother to come pick me up.” Moral of the story: “Don’t go to an ice cream parlor with a poser in mid-February.”
When you’re planning your hopefully disaster-free date night, make sure you plan early and hire a babysitter to watch the kids.
