The other day, I had a few friends over for a visit and one of them asked me if I prepared any easter eggs for my son this year. I looked at her puzzled and said “No.”
She then looked at me with the same puzzled look and asked me “Don’t you celebrate Easter?” When I responded “No” again, she was shocked.
My friend assumed that all mothers knew about this unspoken rule of preparing endless activities this time of year like creating an Easter basket, going on Easter egg hunts, and taking pictures with the Easter Bunny. I smiled and said, “Sorry, I don’t remember doing those things so I have no idea what the whole commotion is about.”
In fact, if I’m being really honest, Easter doesn’t sound appealing.
As a Latinx lady growing up in a Catholic Christian home, Easter was more of a religious experience than anything. Every year around April, my family would go through the entire experience of Passover like Lent, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the mourning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is all I knew about Easter, the rest was just background noise so the concept of Easter eggs, bunnies, and a basket of candy, seemed somewhat foreign.
As I moved out of my family home and started my own life, I stopped celebrating this holiday and usually took the day off to be in solitude. But now that I’m a mom with a growing toddler, I started to realize that my perspective on this holiday needed some readjusting.
I was going to have to figure out what the whole Easter bunny and egg experience is about especially when I have a son who is going to participate in Easter activities in school. And I don’t want my son to be the only one feeling left out.
According to research, the concept of the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s through German immigrants. They brought their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws” which is a springtime tale of a hare laying eggs for children to find. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S., and stories of the Easter bunny delivering treats in decorated baskets were created.
There are also other concepts associated with Easter that revolve around fertility according to Pagan myths. You can also see the connection with springtime and other animal species across the globe as usually this time of year, animals come out of the hibernating months with tiny little babies beside them so fertility does go hand in hand here.
While the concept of Easter has various religious associations, I notice the majority of people do not see it from this angel. As I looked at this a bit deeper, I started to create my own interpretation of how to view this holiday and make it a special annual time of celebration.
For me, Easter, outside of the religious context, is the celebration of Spring.
We celebrate coming out of the cold nights of winter to the sunny afternoons that will lead to warmer weather and the fun times of summer. It’s a day to celebrate the growing flowers, the beautiful light colors, and the cute little bunnies, and enjoy the changing of the seasons.
As a mom, I can understand and respect the idea of celebrating spring and the beautiful outdoor weather. And since my son and I love the outdoors, this is something I know my family will grow to love as well.
Wishing you all a wonderful Easter!
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Til next time,
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash