It’s not even the end of January yet, and stores are breaking out all the Valentine’s Day gifts and candies already. Heart shaped chocolate boxes, oversized teddy bears, the whole nine yards of cheesy gifts.

Yes, it’s been proven time and time again that Valentine’s Day is an overrated holiday, making the single people feel more single and making boyfriends prove their love by how many flowers they get and how expensive dinner is.

There is so much pressure placed on guys to go all out, treat their girlfriends like a princess, and be as romantic as possible on this day. And while it is nice to receive a huge bouquet of flowers, given lots of chocolates, and showered with love and affection...it’s 2018 and ladies, we need to start showing as much appreciation to our men as we expect from them.

Valentine’s Day is not all about the girls anymore.

It's for the guy just as much as it is for the girl now!

If we want to give any hope to this holiday that is swiftly becoming the biggest joke of all holidays, we need to stop being so superficial and put more meaning into this day.

Let’s start showering boyfriends with just as much love and attention as society expects them to give us girlfriends.

I’m sure your boyfriend would love to hear how much you adore him as much as you want him to gush out all his feelings about you. He would probably appreciate a box of his favorite candy as much as you would appreciate the biggest box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

And to really shake things up, maybe it’s our turn to pick up the check at dinner? Society pressures men enough that it’s their duty to pick up every food bill.

(But hey, if he really insists on paying...well then, that’s very gentlemanly of him!)

However, neither of you really need to do anything super extravagant for one another. Just because stores say that the more flowers you buy the more you love them doesn’t mean it’s true. Valentine’s Day isn’t a reason to love your significant other more than you would on any other Monday or Tuesday, we are smarter than those marketing schemes.

There are plenty of other more practical and meaningful ways to show appreciation to your loved one.

Why not make dinner together? It’s cheaper, you don’t have to worry about being late to a reservation and it’s something to do together!

Let your childish side out and build a blanket fort together! Then get a tub of ice cream and order some pizza and binge watch your favorite show together all night in your awesome fort.

And if, at your core, you are a true hopeless romantic, write a mushy-gushy old-school love letter! Ladies, we know we are better with our feelings and emotions than guys anyways, so why expect him to be the emotional genius on Valentine’s Day? Let’s do what we do best and express our feelings for him!

Let’s take off the ridiculous pressure of Valentine’s Day. Let’s stop expecting the royal treatment if we aren’t willing to give it right back. And let’s put some meaning back into this joke of a holiday!

It’s not about the size of the teddy bear or how expensive the dinner is anymore, it’s about reiterating how much you love and appreciate your significant other like all the other days of the year! It’s about how you enjoy spending time with them and love them for the person they are.

Ladies, we are all princesses here, so you deserve nothing less than a Prince Charming. Treat each other like royalty.