Waving, winking and poking

Dawgoneit! No sooner did I make it through the Christmas holiday period alone, when the Valentine’s Day advertising began! Is there no end to consumerism and it’s honing in on us singles? Most days we are feeling perfectly adequate being on our own but once the ‘special occasion’ advertising starts it’s hard to feel anything other than envy for the perks of coupledom.  And, have you noticed how ‘special occasions’ are becoming way more frequent? Even Saturday nights are turning into ‘Dine in for two’ events.  There is no escaping it.

Oh how the tables have turned in recent years. Not so long ago, it was me, frantically scouring the racks of mushy, heart infested cards for a suitably romantic card that would strike just the right note.  Now, it appears that I have been demoted and my involvement with V-day runs to being dragged to town in order to help my soon to be 18 year old, sniff and choose a suitable smelly for her boyfriend.  Even my 12 year old appears to be faring better now that he has wised up to the effects of a scrub in the shower and a smattering of hair wax. All of which resulted in him heading off to the movies at the weekend with a group of friends including girls!  

Perhaps it is at these times, when advertisers know that we are at our weakest, that they blatantly start filling our Facebook feeds with Dating Agency sites and apps. Not a day goes by at the minute when at some point from my peripheral vision, I don’t feel a pair of manly eyes staring back at me with some type of slogan attached, suggesting that there are many men in my area looking for faithful women. Should I be concerned that they are having to state that they are looking for people who are faithful?  I have even started seeing some that say, no young women allowed. How dare they target women who have to take more than a few seconds to guage whether they would fall in or outside of this category.  The cheek!  

Thank you very much Facebook for your help but for the present time, I shall absent myself from the growing number of women who have found their ‘perfect match’ through a dating agency. Something tells me that I am not yet ready to be waved at, winked at or poked; all be it from the safety of my side of the laptop screen! Those who know me will know that I am a hopeless romantic and still long for a happy ever after but will work on my newly found patience and enjoy the Saturday night  ‘family meals in for 5, 6 or 7’ (depending on how many of the kids’ friends have descended on us)  for the time being.