You know how some girls get a new Easter dress ever year? Those pretty, pastel, frilly dresses that overwhelm department stores every year? Well, I never got one of those special Easter dresses. I've always wanted one and still look longingly at the racks of pretty dresses each season.
My mom just didn't do Easter. I never got an Easter basket either, except for one year when my aunt gave us one. Don't get me wrong; my mom is great--really great. She's just not very traditional and doesn't give importance to customs she considers trivial. She does do Christmas every year just because my dad loves it so much, but if it was up to her, she wouldn't do Christmas either.
I think it all has to do with how these two holidays, based on the Savior, have been over-marketed to the point that they don't even resemble what they are supposed to symbolize. I understand that; but I still love holidays.
I don't go overboard though because I like my kids to not focus on Easter baskets and candy, but to remember why we celebrate Easter in the first place. So, they have an Easter basket that I reuse every year and put a few things in there for them. Simple things like candy, Matchbox cars, toothbrushes, pez dispensers, snacks. Nothing huge. They don't expect much and don't dwell on it. In fact, it's now 3:00 and they haven't even asked about them. I'll probably give out the baskets right before dinner or something.
Once, I celebrated Easter with some extended family and it was crazy. It felt like Christmas. Each adult gives each child an Easter basket so they end up with like 5 or 6 baskets filled with crazy stuff like clothes, electronics, purses for the girls, toys. I didn't like it. It's too much; way too much. I don't like my kids to have too much, just enough. Those kids tore through the baskets like it was Christmas (don't even get me started on Christmas with these folks), leaving behind baskets and trash in their wake. That was the last year we spent Easter with them. We like simple. So, we do a small Easter egg hung, small baskets, and some kind of lesson about the Resurrection.
People kept asking me what we're doing for Easter this year. Are we going to visit my parents who only live 2.5 hours away? I kept thinking, no we're just going to stay here--keep it simple. My mom just doesn't do Easter. As for Easter dresses? Well, I have 3 boys so I don't know if I'll ever get to buy one of those cute pastel-colored dresses after all. And me? Well, maybe my longing for a special Easter dress is perhaps long gone. I just wore a black dress today.
No comments:
Post a Comment