Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. I’m not sure why, exactly. It wasn’t as if it was a big family holiday in my childhood. We usually went out for a big breakfast or a brunch, but other than that there wasn’t too much of a celebration. Except for my Easter basket. My mom went all out! Even when I was 15, I still got a basket full of candy and wrapped gifts, spilling out over the edges.
At 5:00 AM, I would wake up and check the end of my bed- no basket. At 6:00 A.M., I’d awaken again to check- still no basket. Usually, by 7:00 A.M. a beautiful Easter basket brimming with colorful wrapped gifts and chocolate bunnies and eggs, would magically appear at the end of my bed.
Now, with my new ready made family, I could not wait to bring my Easter tradition into our lives. Until my husband reacted with, “What? We can’t do that! We put the Easter baskets on the hearth. The kids get up in the morning, sleepily make their way downstairs to find their baskets on the hearth. If we change that they’ll get suspicious!”
What about my family traditions? Do I have to leave them behind just because I didn’t have children of my own? This didn’t seem fair to me, and I felt sad. In addition, my husband and his ex never wrapped any gifts to put in the basket. They only put candy in there. What fun was that?
Luckily, my husband was an open-minded man, and when he understood how important this particular tradition was to me, he relented and allowed the Easter baskets to be put on the end of the children’s beds, filled with wrapped toys and candy. He was concerned that the kids would be on to us, since this was a whole new tradition, but he gave in for me. Now I was excited. I couldn’t wait for Easter.
I headed to the store to shop for fun toys and chocolate. This was when I discovered just how much work my mom put into Easter. What toys should I buy? What would the kids want? And the wrapping! What a pain in the butt, wrapping all those toys! Okay, so maybe some traditions didn’t necessarily need to continue…
However, when Easter morning arrived, and Jessie woke up to find her beautiful Easter basket, overflowing with gifts and chocolate, and excitedly exclaimed, “The Easter Bunny was in my room?” I knew that some traditions were worth carrying on.