I was in the bank yesterday and the teller, obviously wanting to make conversation, told me she liked Easter better than Christmas now that her son is older. “Christmas is for children.” She said. Apparently she has forgotten the true meaning of both these holidays.
When my children were little, I took them to all the Easter and Christmas services at church. I aroused them from their warm cozy beds, and we went to the Easter sunrise service outside in the chilly air. It was awesome. Daughter was a bit of a tomboy so the only dress that I could force her to wear was on Easter Sunday. During Christmas week I walked them through a living nativity in the evening at our church.
As teenagers, the last time I took them to a church service on Easter Sunday, something struck them funny and they got the giggles the rest of the hour.
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We’ve always had an Easter egg hunt. The Easter bunny would come early on Easter morning and hide plastic eggs filled with jellybeans and chocolate eggs in the backyard. The hunt, and competition, was on. They even found an assortment of little items like sunglasses, fancy shoelaces, books, stuffed animals… It all had to even out, because you can bet they would count to see who got more stuff.
As adults at ages 33 and 38, the bunny still comes to hide plastic eggs in the backyard, this time containing gold dollar coins and quarters. The hunt begins whenever they both arrive at the house, usually mid afternoon. I used to buy lots of candy to put in their Easter baskets. This year is a healthy year. I went to Sprouts to buy treats such as fruit snacks, beef jerky, granola bars, cocoa dark chocolate, ginger candy, and chia squeeze vitality snack. Boy, are they in for a big surprise. It took me awhile to make my choices because I had to read all the ingredients. Daughter is a vegan, so I had to check for milk, and son just became allergic to peanuts, so I had to check for nuts. I think they will enjoy the six packs of IPA beer I hid in the refrigerator.
One year on the big hunt I finally understood a very important economic lesson, the law of diminishing returns. The bunny hid about 100 eggs. At first these two adult children went wild to see who could find the most eggs. After about the first 75, they started loosing interest. But it was fun watching them count the eggs in each other’s basket to see who would be the winner.
Easter is the beginning of new life…a renewed beginning for all. Enjoy the day, weekend, year…and remember what the holiday is all about.