And it has nothing to do with me being anti-consumerism (because I'm not) or anti-celebrate Easter (because I'm not). It's 95% because I have been so busy that I really just didn't take the time to plan this holiday out.
The last 6 weeks I've been really trying to live a more intentional life. Getting rid of things that don't add value, and being more aware of how I spend my time and money. Easter was going to be the first holiday and I was so excited to see how I would want to celebrate it now! Instead of just doing all the things because "that's what you do for Easter" I wanted to be deliberate and intentional with our celebration. I wanted to figure out what Easter meant for our family and what traditions we wanted to start or continue or get rid of. I talked to Bart about it about a month ago asking "what we should do/get the kids/etc" and he said a nice Easter outfit for everyone and that should be fine. And I liked the idea of getting something "useful" until I really thought about it and realized since none of us NEED any new church clothes, a new outfit actually wouldn't be super useful. It would get used- but we would be totally fine without it too. So I guess that kind of gives you an example of my thought process for this holiday. And I realize you can talk yourself out of buying ANYTHING and that's not my point either. Maybe next year we will get a new outfit because it will be 12 months since I became a crazy person who doesn't buy things & a new outfit WILL be useful. We'll see ;)
So it turns out being intentional takes a lot more work, time and energy (insert laughing emoji here) because instead of being intentional and have an amazing and special Easter celebration- we aren't doing anything as a little family unit. The Easter Bunny skipped my house this year. Don't worry- Kenzie still enjoyed 3 different egg hunts Fri/Sat and ate so many candies and cookies that by the end of the day she was just throwing candy everywhere instead of eating it. She had a basket and dyed eggs with my mom & I think really enjoyed the holiday weekend. But here we are Sunday morning and as they sleep I can't help but wonder if I did something wrong. I know I didn't- but man, that expectation of how holidays are "supposed" to look is big and bright and hard to ignore!
As I was grocery shopping last night I could have grabbed everything last minute and filled a cheap basket with cheap grass and candy and toys she wouldn't really want or need or remember in 2.5 minutes. But I didn't. Not because I'm against all that- but because I wanted to buy all of that intentionally and not just last minute because I felt I had to.
So a few lessons I've learned
1. The world still turns when you don't celebrate a holiday in the "traditional way". My kids are still babies so Mckenzie will have absolutely no idea that something "should have" been on the table this morning. We're going to have a great day spent with family and food and there really won't be anything missing.
2. Being intentional with celebrating a holiday is actually a lot of work. And I wonder if that's why many people don't do it. It's so much easier to just do-what-we-always-do or follow that pattern that has been set out for us. (Again, not saying that pattern is wrong! But I think we can all agree there IS a pattern). So don't mind me as I'm over here planning Christmas in April so I don't eff that one up too ;)
3. There's a surprising feeling of #parentfail that I wasn't expecting. I didn't stress last night after I left the grocery store empty handed. But when the kids were in bed and the house was quiet I thought "this is when the Easter Bunny would come" and it was a moment of ME as the MOM feeling like I am missing out on something.
4. There has been a really nice feeling about not spending any money or having more things in our home. That is definitely the #1 perk to totally dropping the ball! I'm definitely not stressed, don't have buyers remorse or see more crap I have to clean up.
So while this holiday didn't go exactly as I thought it would. I have learned a few things and actually feel really happy with how it all turned out. It was good for me to miss out on the Easter Bunny this year to realize how much you can still enjoy and celebrate Easter without him. Today I will spend Easter with my babies and husband and family and think of Christ & the sacrifice he made for me and them. I will eat some chocolate & take pictures and maybe all of that is intentional enough.
Happy Easter!
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