Easter is four days away! Four days and we are still wearing coats outside! What happened to spring sandals and sleeveless Easter dresses? I guess Lydia and I will be stylin’ on Sunday with tights and hats!
I have a thing about Easter. It started a long time ago—when I first heard that the word “easter” wasn’t in the Bible. I just assumed it was like “trinity” or “rapture”, not actually in the Bible, but it just meant something else that was for real. Well, not so. According to the wiki, which I don’t entirely trust, there are several etymological roots for this word. But the one that most interests me has to do with the goddess Eostre, who is pictured with lots of pet bunnies. (Ring a bell?)
I know back in the day, Christian holidays got mixed up with pagan holidays. I get it. I know the missionaries were just trying to get people into “the fold”. So, yeah, combine your pagan feast with the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, whatever, just stop worshiping the bunny rabbit god. I know there is not one thing I do in my Christian walk that isn’t tainted by American tradition or a completely random pagan history. I understand it.
And I really didn’t mean to ramble this long about it. I’m not an expert. I haven’t studied it extensively. But anyone with half a brain has to wonder what eggs and bunnies have to do with Jesus coming back to life.
But I never knew what to do about it. I mean, I love a good hard boiled egg colored pink. I pine all year for a Cadbury egg. And I simply adore a little girl in a flowery dress! Last year, I read a post by Shannon about this very thing. She and her family have a First Day of Spring party and do all the “easter” traditions—then on “Easter Sunday” they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. What a great idea!
So, this year, we had our first Spring Party! It wasn’t a big huge party–just Lydia and Nora playing together. We just celebrated Spring like we’d celebrate Back-to-School or the first snow! It was perfect!
We dyed eggs.
We made lamb, bunny & chick puppets. (I like the bunny best.)
We even had an egg hunt. Lydia and Nora were so polite–Nora would show Lydia where an egg was, then Lydia would put it in Nora’s basket!
Then we decorated cupcakes with marshmallows and m&ms. It was really cute…and apparently really yummy!
I know in the grand scheme of things, eggs and bunnies aren’t going to ruin Lydia’s spiritual formation. But in an effort to do my best for her and for the Lord, I like this Spring Party idea. I didn’t feel like we were pushing so much into one day (or skimping on the chocolate eggs). It was just perfectly balanced. I can already tell on Resurrection Sunday, we’ll be able to just talk about Jesus and hang out with our families.
Of course, she’ll probably get an Easter basket from her grandparents. Oh well.
annie says
Great idea, such fun! The girls look adorable too.
Leigh says
That’s a GREAT idea! We aren’t doing too much this year – with the new baby I haven’t had much time to arrange fun things like that. But I like the separation of the 2 (although Elias is getting an Easter basket from his grandma on Sunday, and is going to an Easter egg hunt at his great-grandma’s house…..).
MrsBranham says
Very cute. I heard once a nice story for children that uses eggs (or an egg) to tell the story of Jesus death and resurrection. I think each part of the egg symbolizes part of the story or something?… anyway if you can figure out what the heck I am talking about you might like it!
MrsBranham says
mmmmmmmmmkay well I should have googled my “egg thought” from before because turns out it is called “resurrection eggs” and they actually sell em! Check it out, but maybe you already knew this?
http://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Eggs-Familylife/dp/1572297220
Deanne says
What a great idea! I’ll have to store that away for next year.
Val says
I really love that idea, too. Like really really. And Lydia looks so flower-y and cute. I love her egg-dying over-sized shirt. What a cutie. She looks just like her mommy. 🙂
What are your plans on Easter Sunday?
Misty says
So adorable!!! That’s a great idea. I LOVE your Aladdin mug… With something akin to covetting. 🙁
bee says
I think it’s a great idea. I remember reading Shannon’s post last year and thinking how it had never occurred to me to separate the two. Since then, I’ve given it a lot of thought, but I still don’t have any real issues with it. (Nothing but love & props to those who do, though!!)
Sparked by the Easter Bunny coming to our church for the Easter egg hunt, my dad & I just had a talk about the mixture of (for lack of better term) “worldly” symbols and Christian holidays. Needless to say, he’s not a fan of mixing the two. Since, he did not have as strong an opinion on the matter when my sister & I were growing up, I had to tease him with “We had Santa and the Easter Bunny & I only ‘dabble’ in spells and potions.” 🙂
Kat says
I’m glad you made a day just for EGGS! That is a great idea!
mandi says
Oh that looks like fun! I take “Easter” with a grain of salt just like Christmas, but I think that’s because we grew up with a good balance – we had fun seeing Santa & hunting eggs as kids but also knew those things really had nothing to do with holiday. Pep of course couldn’t do any of that stuff, so Evan will grow up somewhere in the middle:)
Heather says
I love this idea! We’ve been trying to decide what to do about Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. We want to be honest with our little one and keep the REAL meaning of Christmas and Easter, but don’t want to take away the fun-ness of those things for a kid.
Great post!
Danielle says
Too Cute. I love the idea. Will have to think up a version for next year with Aiden… you are too creative
AmyG says
What a great idea! I will have to talk to Michael about seperating the two. The girls know who Santa is at Christmas, but they also know why we celebrate Christmas & we make it more about Jesus & very little about Santa. We’ve never made a big deal about the Easter bunny, but we’ve always done the Easter stuff on Easter Sunday… it would be fun to do it on the 1st day of spring!
Chel says
But now, isn’t that what grandparents are for? Baskets and such? 🙂
Cindy Hunnicutt says
Ummm…probably not an Easter basket!! How about a pretty Spring dress??
brandybuzz says
We had fun time at the spring party!
Elaine says
How much fun! Welcome Spring – I am so happy it’s here!!
karla ~ looking towards heaven says
look at those sweet precious eyes!!! such cute girls ;0)
So glad you are feeling better! Becoming a mom should kick in some sort of super immunity power that bounces all germs off of us…
xo ~ K
Coach Jenny says
This is a wonderful idea! I feel the same way you do about the eggs and bunny thing on the day Jesus rose from the dead. I just really didn’t know what to do about it.
My kids are older now, and we’ve left egg hunts behind, so maybe we’ve made it through without damaging them too much.
Still, this is great!
Naomi says
What a great idea! I always love a good egg hunt but was wondering what sort of family traditions we would do now that I’m a mom, thanks!
Myra @ My Blessed Life says
Amanda, I’m so blessed to have stumbled across this post tonight. I thought I was the only weird person who calls “easter” Sunday – Resurrection Sunday. My Dad studied the history of Easter (pagan) when I was young and I learned a lot through his research. We had spring egg hunts when my sibs and I were little. 🙂
My husband and I intend to have Spring parties with our children. What a refreshing thing it is to enjoy Resurrection Sunday worshiping our Savior and spending time with our families! 🙂
Thanks for this post!