I had the following conversation with Nathan (3 1/2) this morning, as we were discussing the week's events:
Me: We'll have an Easter egg hunt on Saturday with grandma, and then Sunday is Easter!
N: And the Easter bunny will come?
Me: No, there is no Easter bunny. That's just pretend. Do you know why we have Easter? (we have talked about this many times)
N: Because the Easter bunny comes!
Me: No, because Jesus was resurrected. He was dead, and then he came back to life.
N: Just like the Easter bunny!
Sigh. He'll get it as he gets older.
We don't do the Easter bunny at our house. Santa Claus we pretend, and the kids know it's pretend, but I have completely ditched the bunny. I really want the kids to focus on the real meaning of Easter on Sunday, rather than the candy and baskets usually associated with the morning, so we do most of the traditional things on Saturday.
On the Saturday morning before Easter Sunday we will give the kids their spring baskets. They will include a chocolate bunny, a little bit of candy, a book or two, a couple of dollars worth of coins, and maybe a small toy, like a lego minifigure or playmobil person. Sometimes we also include coupons for special privileges they can use anytime, like for extra Wii playing time or a movie night, but we don't give the kids a lot of stuff. Saturday afternoon we will have our Easter egg hunt with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins, and the kids will make themselves sick eating candy.
But Sunday is all about the miracle of the Resurrection and what it means to us. We'll talk about how because of Jesus' sacrifice we can be reborn and made perfect through repentance, and how after we die we too will be resurrected just as Jesus was on Easter morning.
Easter to me is the most important holiday of the year, and I just don't think our Savior should have to share it with an imaginary bunny.
Lol just like the Easter bunny! The holiday traditions you're creating for Nathan is exactly how my childhood went, and I SO prefer it that way. So much commercialism just takes these holidays further from the reasons that we're really celebrating.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kara! I agree that commercialism emphasizes the secular side of our holidays. I just hope to teach my kids to see through it.
DeleteWe do the same thing (Bunny stuff on Saturday, Christ on Sunday), but we haven't come out and told them the Easter Bunny is pretend. They'll figure it out all on their own soon enough. And I'm putting bunny graham crackers and fruit smacks (Annie's) in their eggs this year!
ReplyDeleteThose Annie bunny snacks are a great idea. My kids love those. I should pick some up. Thanks for the idea!
DeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteWe don't pretend the Easter bunny either. I've never told them their baskets come from an Easter bunny. I don't remember ever thinking that our baskets came from the bunny when we were children. I think I never saw the point of the bunny. I kind of see the Easter bunny as a symbol of Spring. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteYeah, mom and dad didn't really do the Easter bunny, and I guess that's why I don't have an attachment to him. I do have bunny decorations up but they're for spring, and not for Easter. Happy Easter to you too!
DeleteWhat about sharing Easter with some of your coconut eggs? Surely we will be able to, nay, encouraged to eat some good candy in heaven. Right?
ReplyDeleteI recently told Stayc that we were going to do all the candy stuff on Saturday this year. We're in China! No one does Easter at all. Not even remotely. I feel like it's the perfect year to transfer the secular stuff to Saturday so that Sunday is completely Christ-centric (as any Sunday should be). My own husband balked at the idea. We are still in negotiations. I think the idea of not having candy to surreptitiously nibble on at Church completely unhinges him.