Easter Math

I hate that I'm agonizing about Easter yet again. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I was raised as a very religious Roman Catholic.We dutifully gave up something precious during Lent and at Easter we went to church after school all week to mourn then rejoice over His rising. We grew up knowing this time of year was super important. Even more than Christmas. As such, we got no presents, no chocolate, no jellybeans, no eggs. Just lots and lots of church and prayers.

I pulled away from the church (but not from my spirituality) as soon as I moved out and when I had kids I wanted to give them the Easter fun I didn't have. I've had to make up lots of new traditions for my little heathen family and Easter was no different. One year we hid eggs around the house but little Elliott woke up early and ate everything he found. The tradition that year was going to the gas station for Kinder Surprises and a big fat time-out for the boy.

Since then we've hidden a personalized basket with written clues for each kid to follow to the designated hiding spot. Now that the kids are older I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. They don't believe in the Easter Bunny anymore so am I still supposed to hide chocolates? They're a little too old for the bubble stuff, skipping ropes and sidewalk chalk that I used to give. Frankly I'm not willing to buy anything more expensive. This isn't Christmas, after all. Am I really expected to buy them iPods and bikes? Is Easter really an occasion to spend that kind of money? You guys have to help me out with this. I'm unfamiliar with what I'm supposed to do.

I can't believe I'm going to admit this but maybe my parents had something. They never had to shell out for toys just 4 months after Christmas.

This equation probably summed up their rationale:
Son of God + (Torture x Murder) + Miraculous Resurrection = Rabbit That Shits Chocolate Eggs x Baby Chicks + Extravagant Presents (?!)
 No wonder we never got Easter gifts. It just doesn't add up.

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Finally learning the mystical, magical secret behind making the perfect, flaky pie crust = Awesome!


kxx