So with a little less than a week left until Valentine's Day, I thought this red dress editorial would be fitting for some love talk...
It all started when my little sister came up to me and asked what she should get her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day, she said, “girls are so easy, just get her some flowers and she’ll be happy, but what do you get a guy?” Due to my lack of experience and disadvantage when it comes to being crafty, the best suggestion I could offer was… “I don’t know? Candy?”
I realized that a lot of other females probably feel the same way, so I decided to do some research… After browsing the web and of course doing some “Pinteresting”, I realized that this may actually be an epidemic.
I found suggestions like “woven heart pouch,” “love yarn letters,” “conversation heart balloons” yadda yadda. The best suggestion I could find that a male may be remotely interested in was a “romantic pizza” a/k/a a pizza with pepperoni laid out in the shape of a heart.
So let me just be honest here; first off, he is not going to give one care about your yarn letters. He may act all nice and polite and tell you that you are so artsy and creative, but trust me, the moment you leave, they’re getting tossed to the back of the closet. Think he wants his buddies to see him “cupcakin" over some yarn? No… he does not.
Secondly, not all of us are DIY type of gals! I can be creative and I am a pretty artsy person, but I can not DIY to save my own life. It would look like a 2-year-old’s art homework. So since the internet was failing me, (how could it, right?) I decided to just ask some men themselves! So here you have it…
To my surprise, most of their responses were actually very sweet and heartfelt… Pretty much it comes down to three things:
- Affirmation
- Genuine effort
- Food
One of the interviewees said, “guys really like being told they're doing it right, that they're making the right decisions… and then we like to have food.” Sounds pretty dang simple to me. Another shared that a gift for Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be Valentine’s specific, “I don’t need a heart-shaped whatever, just get me somethin, you know?”
Could it be that we have been overanalyzing men all along? Are they really just so simple that us complicated women can’t even comprehend? Let’s look deeper; One male confessed that he would love to just see his girl get dressed up and go out to dinner, although in response to that I asked, “but would she pay for the dinner then since it’d be her gift to you?” he answered honestly, “if she is going to take the time to get all dressed up and do her hair and makeup and I get to see that and just enjoy her beauty, I’d be down to still pay for the meal.” Now I do admit that my heart melted at that response…
It didn’t stop there though! Another male stated that if he could tell a gift had effort and thought behind it, he would be thankful for it. “Honestly if the girl didn’t just expect to get all the love and stuff on Valentine’s Day and went out of her way to spoil the guy that’d be awesome. Society kinda says the guys don’t get spoiled and it’s all about the girl. If a guy could just get the extra loves and over the top affection, that would make Valentine’s Day pretty special."
So there we have it… Boys just want some effort and attention from us ladies! It seems quite simple when you break it down… Maybe a little gift like a piece of clothing that they'd like or something that’s not generic but specific to their interests, they'd be a happy camper. Oh but don’t forget to feed them… that was a reoccurring desire.