This is not a post about the Christianity’s most meaninful holiday. There are plenty of posts available for that. This is about the Easter holiday, and family. No disrespect to Christianity is intended.
It’s almost 8:00 at night April 8, 2012. The kids have left after coming over for a combined Easter/Birthday dinner.
This makes me think back to earlier Easters in my life.
When I was a child, my parents would rent a room at a Holiday Inn in Toledo, OH. They always got the same room (132), and suffice to say it was just an old school Holiday Inn. They only thing special was the huge kidney shaped pool. We would spend hours in that pool…enjoying the time as a family. Mom & Dad would bring Easter baskets…with tasty chocolate & always a little toy.
Fast forward thirty years, and I had my own kids. We always liked going over the top for the kids, and organized an annual Easter morning Easter Egg hunt in the backyard. It was a quick event, no more than an hour. All the neighborhood families came, the kids searching the yard for plastic eggs while the parents shared a morning beverage (“Sex on the Beach” seemed to be popular.)
Fast forward a decade, and it was the divorce years. Easter became “Little Christmas.” Parents often try to deal with the guilt of impacting kids’ lives by buying their way out. Of course, this never works and belies the underlying issues the parents have.
At this point, Easter is an event to get together with family. We voted on “in your Easter bonnet” or casual, and casual won. Some did church and others didn’t. Some brought laundry, and others didn’t. Dad bought enough food for everyone to skip Sunday grocery shopping, as I make a point of having them all leave with “leftovers.” It’s my way of helping, and they stay longer.
And while we do Exchange gifts, the Easter gifts are toned way back, and the Birthday gifts carry the day.
I have to admit to one big surprise. They all wanted to decorate Easter eggs. So, with two and a half dozen hard boiled eggs on hand and two packages of coloring, decorate eggs we did.
How do you spend time with family on Easter?
