Easter traditions

My kids are young adults now…
and the whole hiding of the eggs and easter basket hunt
tradition is long past appropriate.
When they were little, I would hide their baskets somewhere either in the house
or out in the yard or barn depending on weather.
I would map out a treasure hunt with clues in plastic eggs..
one egg clue led to the next egg clue, until the basket was revealed in it’s hiding place.
I can’t get away with that anymore, and I miss those rituals dearly.
I still fill their baskets with chocolate and peeps and jelly beans..
and more useful stuffers like funky colored socks and Nike gift cards.
No complaints so far 🙂
We’ll have family over tonight for a ham dinner
and chocolate and banana cream pies for desert.
We were all raised Catholic but no longer attend mass.
It’s my belief there are many ways to do right in this world
and it doesn’t have to happen inside the walls of a church.
There’s no question, though, that mass and religious rituals bring
comfort and a sense of community to so many. 
My cathedral is a walk in the woods or along the beach.   
Do some traditions continue in your house or have they gone by the wayside
as time rolls on?  If your children are still young, what are your traditions?
Happy, Blessed Easter to you and yours –
may your basket be filled with joy.
 

13 thoughts on “Easter traditions”

  1. Great post, totally get it. We did the hide the basket thing also, or should i say the easter bunny did. Heard from my daughter from Brussels yesterday, she said she wished she was home so she could "look for her basket." She's 29.
    Have a great day, happy Easter to you and your family.

  2. Oh, and one other thing, the only daughter still local is coming for dinner, and last night my wife was looking for a place to "hide her Easter treat." The new vacuum cleaner is hidden in the closet. It seems the Easter bunny shops at Target. (Hey, she's married and needs a new vacuum)Of course, a box of Godiva and a bottle of Prosecco go with that.

  3. When my step kids were little, I bought them big stuffed bunnies one year and hid them in the closet until Easter. My dog, Sophie, was obsessed with stuffed animals. She discovered them and claimed them. I have a photo somewhere of Easter morning, the bunnies on the sofa, and Sophie standing over them. I've always loved Easter but we don't have any kids here and no adult traditions. Except a few Cadbury Eggs:-)

  4. Karen – happy Easter to you and your family.
    I not only miss the rituals from when my girls were little (they're both in their 40's) but I miss the bygone rituals with my grandchildren (both in 20's).
    This Easter was different in that we celebrated on Saturday due to granddaughter leaving today for 6 months.
    Unfortunately I didn't get to participate as I've been sick since Thursday. Really doesn't seem like a holiday today.
    Maybe I'll go through old photo albums to remind myself how cute everyone was 🙂

  5. I did a "Son rise" service alone on the bay and posted video of it to my blog. I had planned on going to church, but feel drawn to some solitary time today.

    I've never had the blessing of a child in my life, but in a previous WPP (witness protection program ~ how I refer to previous marriages) I made Easter baskets for my x … since he loved to fish, I would get him new lures to put in plastic camo colored eggs, fishing line, Swedish fish candy, gummi worms, etc. Later when he got a Harley and that became his "thing" along with expensive cigars, I put bubble gum cigars, and Harley related "toys" for his big toy.

  6. K Happy Easter to you and your family ! Well the boys are still young so the night before easter we dye eggs and of course they get there baskets the next morning ! We will be doing a ham lunch at my aunt house about 40 of us !!!

  7. I still do the Easter baskets as well 🙂 but like you, fill them with more age appropriate "stuff." My youngest still enjoys an egg hunt so several years ago I relegated my older daughters to take charge of the egg coloring, hunting, etc. 🙂 We usually spend Easter at my mom's house in Birmingham, but bc of her illness, she's still recuperating and needs to have a quiet peaceful day today rather than the chaos my bunch is sure to bring her :p
    My mother loves sunrise service but I've only made it once in my life. I'm just not an early bird by any stretch of the imagination. We do still attend the traditional service but I too believe that Easter can be found in many places…not just within the walls of church. 🙂 Happy Easter to you, Karen! Have a wonderful day!

  8. Happy Easter to you and all the family, Karen.

    Love the baskets! 🙂

    The little girls went to an egg hunt on Friday at horse camp. Then Hunt stayed with me until this morning. When they picked her up, she found that the BUNNY had slipped another basket into Matt's truck. She was thrilled, needless to say. Her words "Boy the Easter Bunny really hooked me up this year!" Having her here and then knowing she's with her mom, Matt and Rylan makes my Easter complete. 🙂

  9. All the traditions from when my kids were young, have gone by the wayside. Now, they are building those traditions in their own lives.

    Happy Easter, Karen!

  10. Easter Bunny leaves a basket in the house and this year he left eggs all over the house to find. Who wants to hunt eggs in the sloppy wet melting snow??? We usually attend church and then have a big ham dinner but we haven't found a church yet so it was very low key today and the ham is in the oven as we speak! Happy Easter!!

  11. My 'girls' are now 19 and 22 – and I still fix them an Easter basket 🙂 Like you said…no complaints so far!

Comments are closed.