As a kid Easter was always a huge deal at our house. My mom went out of her way to create these fantastic illusions: the house was decorated all month long, we had egg hunts outside, egg hunts inside, there would be "bunny tracks" throughout the house, the Easter basket would be packed to the brim, sometimes she even painted a Happy Easter sign on our large front window. And then we put on our new Easter clothes and went to church and then to my Grandma's house. Every year. No matter what.
Now, with the exception of the church part, I fully expected I would do the same for my kids. Oh, I have all the decorations. They are in a bin in the garage nicely labeled "Easter stuff." The only problem is they haven't been out of the bin for a good 5 years. And it's not just Easter; I have Valentine's Day decorations, St. Patty's Day decorations, Fourth of July decorations....all of which have not seen the light of day for many years. (We do generally manage to get the Halloween decorations out. That's good, right?)
As a result, I feel like a total failure as a parent. As I sit, half comatose in the recliner at 11pm last night my dear hubby was searching through a darkened garage with a flashlight trying to find the bin with the plastic eggs and Easter baskets. (Last year I was so lazy I just bought new ones so I wouldn't have to retrieve them from the bin!) He pieced together the random plastic eggs we had floating in the bin and filled them with change from the piggy bank in the kitchen and some old Jelly Belly's we had in the cabinet from last year. Then he proceeded to hide the 13 eggs we could find around the house. Now I DID manage to pick them up their Easter gifts last weekend so at least I had their movies and chocolate bunnies. But that is about all I did. I went to bed last night feeling horrible and didn't sleep much as a result.
As the light began to shine through the window I heard Logan's voice from the hallway, "HE LEFT AN EGG IN MY ROOM!!!" he shouted. Lilly woke up shortly after and the hunt began. She was thrilled to find an egg in her room as well. The thought of the Easter bunny quietly making his way through their rooms was very exciting to my two little kiddos. They found their baskets on the dining room table and were thrilled to get their movies, chocolate bunnies and a Ziploc bag of old jelly beans. When they found the twelfth egg they were content to sit and eat their candy, totally satisfied with their Easter experience. Daddy had to give them a hint that he noticed one other egg hidden. "But we each have 6 right now Dad. That's a dozen. And it's fair," said Lilly, never remembering that in the past there used to be a boatload of plastic eggs for the finding; a dozen each at least.
So you won't see cute pictures of my kids in their Sunday best posted on Facebook. They are in their grubby clothes, playing in the yard up at the farm today with their Dad. Meanwhile, I'm sitting at the computer, working, trying to relieve myself of the "Things to do" list so that I can sleep tonight. And, I feel better (even if my mom would give me a look like, "What? You didn't do more?!"). Kids don't expect fantastical explosions of decorations and excitement. They are perfectly happy with their 6 plastic eggs and year-old jelly beans. At least my kids are grateful for what they get. That makes me happy.
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