Man Cold

The History of Valentine's Day (and Kissing)

Instead of whispering sweet nothings, impress your sweetheart with these Valentine’s Day facts.

• No one knows the real story behind Saint Valentine (at least three different saints named Valentine are recognized by the Roman Catholic church), but one legend claims that he secretly married young couples against the orders of an emperor who had banned marriage because he believed single men made better soldiers. (How Romantic!)

• Today’s tradition of trading love notes on February 14 became popular in England in the 17th century.

• The first box of chocolates was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868.

• The oldest known valentine card dates back to the 1400s. Charles, duke of Orleans, sent it to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

• “Be Mine,” one of the original messages on Necco’s Sweethearts candies when they debuted, still appears every year. Recent additions? “IM Me” and “Go Girl.”

But there’s plenty you may still not know about philematology, or the science of snogging (seriously, it has a name). So wrap your orbicularis oris muscles (lips) around these tidbits of trivia, and next time you greet your valentine, you can kiss and tell.

• Some anthropologists believe that kissing originated with early Homo sapiens passing food to their babies mouth to mouth. (EW!) As humans developed, the mouth-to-mouth feeding stopped, but the learned behavior of kissing remained.

• The first on-screen kiss was between John C. Rice and May Irwin in the 1896 movie appropriately titled The Kiss.

• Birds and bees may not be able to kiss, but bonobo apes do. The oft-studied primates, who are closely connected to humans, love to lay one on each other after a fight, to form social bonds, or―arguably the best reason―just because. (Who doesn't like to cuddle?!)

• As a prelude to KISS, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley were known as Wicked Lester. In 1973 Stanley had the idea to change the band’s name to KISS, while Frehley came up with the iconic design for the KISS logo.

• They may not have been sitting in a tree, but British couple James Belshaw and Sophia Severin achieved a record for k-i-s-s-i-n-g back in 2005, when they smooched for 31 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds. No word on whether it led to love, marriage, or a baby in a carriage.

That's how he rolls.....

The other day Little Man and I were at a stop light when we saw a car (shiny, new & expensive) filled with teenage boys speed through the intersection with the cross traffic.

I looked at Little Man in the rear-view and said, "Just want to let you know that Mom & Dad aren't going to buy you a brand new Volvo when you learn to drive". "I didn't have a new car, I had a used Toyota hatch-back that I helped pay for."

((geez, does that make me sound like an old geezer or what?!))

((Silence from the back seat))

So, being curious I asked...

Me: What kind of car do you want when you learn to drive.

Little Man: A Van. (without missing a beat)

Me: A what? I had heard him right but was surprised at his answer because this is what was going through my mind.

The Star Wars "Love Machine" Van.

Little Man getting ready to go pick up his date.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

But this is what he said,

Little Man: A Van. Like Grandma M.

Me: Oh, (wave of relief coming over me) you mean a mini-van?

Little Man: Yeah, cause it has buttons you can push to close the doors and that's cool.

Ahhhhh. Guess I can wait until he's 15 to REALLY panic. :D

Little Man's sweet ride.

Maybe we can still paint the Star Wars graphics on the sides. :)

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Jedi Wannabe...

As many of you know, Little Man is a HUGE fan of Star Wars. So a couple of months ago we were on the way home from McDonald's (yes, I caved) and Little Man says, "Mommy look at me! I'm Anakin pod racing!" You gotta give the kid credit for being creative! :D

Little Man in his pod racing helmet

and wearing his "Jedi in Training" t-shirt.

The real Anakin from Star Wars Episode I

May the force be with you!

Another JibJab/Little Man Production...

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