Every year I try to figure out why Easter becomes so stressful. It always seems like we are rushing around with lives full of egg hunts, candy-stuffing eggs (or non-cavity causing substitutes), frantic preparation for everything, last minute shopping (for THE perfectly matching clothes and accessories, of course), and chaos all weekend long. So this year I really tried to keep it simple. I didn't want to get carried away and swayed by those deceptive marketing ploys (all the cute Easter dresses and hunt ads), all the frantic places the kids could scramble around looking for candy "loot", or ridiculous overplanning of Easter gifts. Instead I really wanted to kids to realize what Easter means to us and to have a peaceful, spiritual day spending time together with our family.
So how did I do with trying to keep things simple? It went pretty well on the whole. I did not go crazy finding the "perfect" Easter dresses this year. The girls wore dresses that I got MONTHS before on a great sale. After they had been in my closet for a while, I realized that I could use them for Easter instead of buying something else (and the pressures of all the spring/floral dresses coming out the last couple of months was still taunting me, but I held strong!) Their tights, undershirts, and cardigans were ones they already had (OK, so I may have found shoes that matched their dresses PERFECTLY, but it was practically by accident and they were a great price!) And Maddox's entire outfit was all clothes that he has previously worn (although I did pick his "springiest" clothing.) His sweater vest, shirt, and shorts had been washed multiple times before and everything - they really weren't brand new!
So why is wearing old and non-floral clothes such a big deal? Seriously? This is HUGE for me! I just took a leap forward in terms of not spending too much time & money on something as unimportant as clothes (but like I tell Milt often: the children's clothes do make ME happy, and my happiness should be important to him). And the fact that the girls had shoes that matched their dresses? Come on, it's BABY STEPS here, okay? I can't just change who I am all at once!
But it did help our Easter Sunday be peaceful. We didn't go to any huge Easter egg hunts this year, instead we just celebrated Easter Sunday by going to church in the morning and then having a low-key evening together as a family once we got home. We made an activity of coloring eggs (as a fun activity on Easter...no previous stressing out all week trying to hurry and get them done), and then watched a beautiful video that our church put out that recreates the Atonement of the Savior and His Resurrection. The short movie is very powerful and faith-affirming, and it really emphasized the true meaning of Easter.
After the video, we talked about Easter and what it really means and sang some church songs, then we had some family fun and hid Easter Baskets and eggs for the kids. It was great fun, and the best part was that everything (even me, the picture taking mom) was pretty laid back - no "posed" egg finding pictures this year...except for McKinley who can't help but pose in most every shot. ;)
2 comments:
Not gonna lie - that would be hard for me. I usually try to get the kids' easter outfits after season the year before and have everything for Easter purchased and squared away weeks in advance so that I can not be stressing over it and try to keep my focus on the important stuff. It seems like if I can keep my focus theirs sort of follows.
We did the same thing this year. Although... I don't mind the boys in old shirts but I "need" my daughter to have a new dress every Easter! LOL
We cut back on all the extra stuff - one small egg hunt at Grandma's, just a few small gifts in their Easter basket. We really felt like our focus was not in the right place last year with all of the overload of events and stuff - I much preferred this year!
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