The struggle comes from my childhood, culture and the experiences around us. There are easter egg hunts everywhere and its not about Christianity. It is commercialized, but as a parent I have come to realize how important these traditions are to your childhood and they are the foundation of who you are and what memories are created. Erik had two Easter hunts in his classes alone let alone the other events we were invited too or could have attended at this age. Pretty much age 4 is the perfect age for Easter.
While having lunch with a friend who holds similar beliefs I asked her this question and how she deals with it in her own mind. She is an academic so I really respect her opinion and often she is right on the mark with these things. Her opinion is to just make it a celebration of spring and a time of family. Mentally I had never gone there because my mom was Lutheran and ingrained the religious portion into my brain. So now we celebrate spring by celebrating Easter and I also explain to my children why this holiday is significant to Christians. I need to contact some of my Jewish relatives and find out more about Passover too and explain that as well.
So on Sunday we casually celebrated Spring and celebrated Easter. The day started off with an Easter hunt in our own home. Glenn and Annie took me out the night before for dinner so they stayed to help stuff eggs and hide them everywhere for me. I had to make my brother make it less challenging he was getting really into the hiding spots. My kids are only 4 and 2, but he got really into it.
The next morning Erik woke up soooo excited for Easter. This is a very first for him and I didn't even sell the holiday. I had no decoration up all month and he kept asking where they were. Luckily they did let us sleep in until 7 pm, but Erik was more than anxious to get the show on the road that morning.
Then because it was Easter and I remember eating so much candy on Easter I just let them go for it that morning. They didn't have a ton so I let them eat what they had. The repercussion is that the boys keep trying to eat the leftover jellybeans every morning. Live and learn.
Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and they went for it again. More candy, more jellybeans, more baskets and more sugar. My kids needed a diet after Easter and unfortunately it was my birthday the next day so no reprise as there was cake involved.
My kid did dye Easter eggs, but it was a week before Easter. I will post those next in a separate blog.
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