Others try to avoid extensive planning altogether by breaking off relationships just before the love-dedicated holiday.

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One 5-year-old girl was faced with the latter. The young girl had a conversation with her mother, a television anchor in North Carolina, about a relationship that she was considering ending.

"He is sweet and romantic," she told her mother. "But I think I'm too young to have a boyfriend."

But she didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings.

"I don't want to break his heart. He looks so happy," she said.

Ultimately, she came to a conclusion:

"It's the only thing I can do. I guess I'll just tell him it's time to break up," she said.

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Public Service Commission candidate Peter Hubbard gets a hug from Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, during an election-night party in Southwest Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.  (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC