Professional kid wrangler

Professional kid wrangler

Tuesday 31 March 2015

Taking it down a notch

Taking it down a notch

I have never enjoyed Easter. As a child the religious symbolism was lost on me. To be fair going from a crucifixion and resurrection to a six foot tall bunny is a bit of a stretch.

I never liked plain chocolate much as a kid, so for me Easter was a day I wore a new dress and got some bubbles or a skipping rope. We ate dinner at my grandparent's house and sometimes we would
get a hollow egg with our name written on it in shaky butter cream handwriting.

Man have things changed.

I was one of the worst ones. When I had my first daughter I thought it would be a chance to enjoy the holiday again. Abigail was too young for chocolate her first Easter but she got showered with toys. By the time number two and three came along, Easter had become a mini Christmas. When I was a kid, I never got toys at Easter unless you count items from the dollar store. My kids were getting gradually more and more and the meaning of Easter stayed lost in the haze of chocolate and barbie dolls.

Well, this year is going to be different.

First of all, instead of toys and mountains of chocolate, we are starting a new tradition where we make items for the Easter bunny to hide for us. This year we are attempting homemade sidewalk chalk and play doh hidden in plastic eggs.

Second of all, there will be no huge toys. With the exception of some play doh accessories and some bubbles, there will be very little toys given at all.

Third of all I am dialing the chocolate way back. My kids don't need it. I will end up eating it and making the upcoming bathing suit season even more torturous.

And the craziest part of this whole thing, is that the kids won't care. They have been pumped to make everything and were excited to shop for the 'special ingredients' needed to make our crafts. Although I don't expect that at four, three and almost two, they will 'get' the true meaning of Easter; spending time rather than money, and not diluting the holiday with material things should help us get a little closer.

Homemade sidewalk chalk in three ingredients