Today is Easter, but it doesn’t feel like it. As a little girl, I remember Easter being full of colorful baskets, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and fake grass. Each year my mom would buy me an adorable Easter dress to wear to church, including the white leather shoes to match. On that morning, I would wake up while it was still dark outside, before anyone in the house was up. I would scout out each and every plastic egg that my parents had hidden while my brother and I were sleeping, being very careful not to move them out of place. Then I would quietly sneak back into my bed and wait till it was time to for the family to get up. This was all in the effort to find more eggs than my brother did, which meant more candy!
Today, Easter isn’t the same. Sure there still is pastel fake grass, and chocolate bunnies, but that is usually a small holiday decoration at work. No one is hiding plastic eggs around your house filled with treats, and there is no basket waiting for you when you wake up that morning. You might buy a few Easter-themed snacks at the store, but then comes the guilt that you just woofed down a whole bag of jelly beans by yourself. It is a no win situation people.
So what is Easter when you’re all grown up?! It has a different meaning. It is a time to spend with family and friends. Seeing as my family lives out-of-state, I got the chance to talk to them over the phone to wish them a happy holiday. The whole family had come together to have a holiday dinner. I got the play-by-play of how my niece and nephew found all the hidden eggs, and how huge their baskets were, which has now put them into a sugar coma.
I guess my basket got delayed in the mail, or maybe the Easter bunny missed my house (I did move to California). Maybe it is because I liked it when times were simpler. You just wake up to holiday surprises and the magic behind it still existed. You didn’t have to worry about how much an Easter basket cost, how long a ham cooks in the oven, or what a bag of jelly beans does to your digestive system. That was a part of the excitement. So how do you keep holidays special when life has forced us to grow up?
Yeah, growing up sucks. When people tell me that I look younger than my age, I tell them I have discovered the secret of youth – immaturity! Having kids helps, but they grow up, too. Maybe chocolate is it’s own reward.
I destroyed some chocolate bunnies yesterday….I was ruthless!