First the Easter bunny hid colored eggs. Then those eggs turned plastic and held little treats inside them. Then he brought baskets with treats and stuffed animals. And now that oversized bunny is apparently in a head-to-head competition with Santa Claus based on the current scale of Easter gift-giving.
I mean, you can even buy gingerbread bunny huts. And now…Peep on a Perch will watch your kids’ behavior and report back to the Easter bunny. Yup, just like Elf on a Shelf.
I love Christmas. I do all the things. (Except the Elf.) We start listening to holiday music around October, bake cookies for the neighbors, make a gingerbread house from scratch, adopt a family, look at Christmas lights, and are pretty generous to our kids on Christmas morning. It’s really fun, and I love every second.
But I just can’t get on board with all this Easter craziness.
When my firstborn was a baby (and before it even got so ridiculous), I made a decision. We weren’t going to do Easter with our kids. Sure, we might do an egg hunt. But overall Easter was 100% about Jesus – I didn’t want to take away the focus and excitement with gift-getting. So we decided no Easter baskets, no Easter bunny, no excessive commercialism.
Well…maybe a teeny bit of commercialism and a teeny bit of the Easter bunny. We do a jelly bean hunt – but the kids know I’m the one that sets it up – and the “Easter bunny” brings them a full-sized candy bar or something similar.
But that’s it. It’s nowhere near the focus of the holiday, and nothing we do is ever expected by the kids. Any small activity or treat is simply a little unexpected surprise.
My kids know this is how we celebrate Easter, and they understand why. They aren’t disappointed when they wake up on Easter morning and don’t find gifts and a giant Easter basket. They know their friends have different experiences, and that’s okay.
In fact, one of the conversations we have frequently in our house is that there will always be families that have more, that do things differently, and have different rules for their kids. I feel that helping my kids learn to manage the comparison game early is one of my foremost duties as a parent…so this discussion is not unique to Easter, although it gives us yet another opportunity to talk about how we are always faced with differences.
I understand that not everyone shares the same faith as we do, so their view of Easter is different. I understand that some moms absolutely love making every holiday magical for their kids. And I’m absolutely not anti-Easter bunny.
But I AM anti-mom guilt.
So mom, if you’re feeling guilty that you can’t keep up with all of the gift-giving madness of the holiday (or simply don’t want to), please stop. Know that you don’t have to and that you’re not alone.
In fact, it can be a starting point for some important lessons and meaningful conversations with your kids. At the end of the day they will be okay if you don’t “do” Easter.
I promise.
READ MORE MOM CONFESSIONS HERE
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Read more of Kristina’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
