It’s crazy to think about the amount of preparation and  anticipation that went into Valentine’s Day in elementary school.

Before the big day, you used to spend hours carefully cutting paper and cardboard to create a “mailbox” to store the numerous Valentines you each received from classmates, painstakingly gluing stickers and decorations on it as well.

You undertook the stressful task of bugging your parents to drive you to Target or Safeway to pick out a variety of candies and chocolates, sneaking in a couple on the side for yourself. Then you went down the class roster, meticulously writing the names of everyone in the class on your beautifully crafted cards, triple checking to make sure that you hadn’t left anyone out. The rule was that you could only bring Valentines if you brought enough for everyone.

You might have even added a special note or love letter in your best cursive handwriting for those “special” people. On top of the impressive candy that your mom bought for you, this additional touch would surely grab people's attention. Furthermore, all of that excruciating daily cursive practice would finally pay off.

On the actual day, the agenda on the board read something along the lines of “Distribute Valentines, Valentine’s Day Party.” You ran around the classroom giving out your Valentines and then waited patiently at your desk for your own mailbox to be filled.

The rest of the day was the best part — selfishly devouring loads of candy without parental supervision. If you ate all of the candy at school, your parents would never know.

The Valentine’s Day ritual back in elementary school made the holiday much more memorable than it is now. While couples might celebrate outside of school, most people don’t necessarily enjoy its festivities. And who wouldn’t want to go back to those days, when you could ignore how incredibly single you were and just look forward to a day full of free chocolates from your classmates?