A few years back, I thought I would go the classic romantic route for Valentine’s Day. I thought ahead, called a flower shop, and ordered a few bags of rose pedals.

Before my wife got home, I laid out a route that went from the front door to the bedroom. (Like I said, classic…)

It ended up being more fun than I thought and looked pretty great. I was excited to see her reaction when she got home.

And excited, her reaction was.

Before I could even say, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she was already into, “What the hell is this?”

I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this reaction myself, but it went on…

“Pick those up right now. What are you, crazy? You’re going to stain the carpet! Are those on our bed sheets? Those better not be on my nice white comforter! Get those picked up right away!”

And before I could move, she had already sprung into action. She had bags, spray bottles, vacuum cleaners, and carpet spray. There was no way this thoughtless act was going to result in stained carpet or sheets.

So I fell in behind her and lamely started picking up rose pedals until we had the area sterilized.

While the rose pedals didn’t have the intended effect (possibly romance, but more likely humor), it did, ironically, end up unifying us a bit in the fight against household stains.

I think we watched some TV after that…

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends.