Since it's Valentine's Day I'm guessing that more than a few BlogHers will be writing about love, romance, or even passion today. I swear I had thoughts of romantic dinner ideas when I started checking my feeds to write a post, and then one of the first blogs I stumbled upon was talking about getting romantic with swiss chard.

If you've watched any television this month, you've seen one or two, or 500, commercials for different jewelry stores, all marketing the notion that giving your wife, or girlfriend, diamonds is the ultimate romantic gesture. These commercials drive me crazy. They not only foster unreasonable expectations of love and relationships, but also put undue pressure on one person in the relationship to bear the brunt of the responsibility for Valentine's Day romance.

Valentine's Day is Thursday, and for many of you, the day wouldn't be complete without chocolate. Researchers discovered a few years ago that chocolate is high in antioxidants, so you don't need to suffer any guilt pangs when you eat some. Of course plain dark chocolate does have the most health benefits, but for a special occasion like Valentine's Day, everything chocolate is fair game.

Whether you believe Valentine's Day to be a Hallmark-made holiday or the perfect opportunity to revel in true love, the fact remains that few moms are at liberty to let the day pass unnoticed. There are class parties to bake for and elusive babysitters to try to track down and... well, see for yourself.

"Brevity is the soul of lingerie." --Dorothy Parker The other day I was out with a girlfriend at the park and we were talking about Valentine's Day, while we pushed our feral short people on the swing. "Are you going to DO that?" she said, referring to fussing with the holiday at all. "Yes," I said. I love Valentine's Day. My secret is that I am so corny that we people come into the room, they think about going to the movies or Orville Redenbacher. I don't care. I always have been this way.