Did You See the Easter Bunny? Part I

We did!  Well, by accident really. He was at brunch at the Hyatt, giving out colored eggs! My 4 year-old nephew LOVED him! Sam followed that bunny around and even got to dance with him! My 2 year-old niece would very shyly take his eggs and then tell him with fear and trembling in her voice, "BYE BYE, Bunny!" Lucas had a different reaction. Not knowing what this creature was at all, I think he put the adult dressed as a funny rabbit in the "dog" category of his brain. Lucas LOVES dogs! He laughs and laughs just at their presence and then he grabs them and squeezes them! This is what he did to the Easter Bunny!

Lucas and his cousins looking at their egg treasures!  Well, Lucas is eating his!

I love his admiring look in this picture... like he wants to be "big" too!

Being a first-time parent and having gone through Luc's first Christmas and now Easter, I've been doing some reflecting about the holidays. I'm surprised at how awkward I feel about them. Growing up, my Christmases were spent like most of us...with family, eating and opening presents! I think I believed in Santa, at least for a few years. I had 2 older siblings who pretty early on let the cat out of the bag.  My brother (who was supposed to be sleeping) saw our dad getting gifts out of his truck. He woke my sister and showed her the "proof" that it was really Dad and NOT Santa.  She cried. So, in their bitterness, they spoiled the "magic" for me at a pretty early age. And somewhere along the way, I distinctly remember thinking that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy sure did have similar handwriting!   My husband believed for a little while too.  And neither of us experienced in trauma in finding out it just wasn't true.  

Our neighborhood has had some interesting experiences regarding Easter.  We live in a great neighborhood close to the center of the city. We really like it a lot.  Tons of young families and parks!  It's a very active community as well... many civic-minded, neighborhood-association-types. There's an online forum and a Facebook page where we all communicate regularly.  And, it's very liberal community.  As Christians, we are for sure "odd-balls."  Last year, one of the moms tried to organize a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  People went nuts on the forum.  They were outraged that someone was pushing their religious beliefs onto others in the neighborhood... and that the neighborhood would even sponsor such a thing.  I was shocked at how angry people got.  And then, one Christian guy wrote in and said, "I can assure you that children hunting for colored eggs and an adult dressed as an animal has nothing to do with my most sacred holiday!"  He made me laugh :) Hesitantly, the Spring Egg Hunt was a go last year.  And this year... "The Annual Mueller Egg Scramble" was a big hit!  It's catchy, right?  And that Easter Bunny... he was there!

I'm not sure whether to laugh at everyone for being so uptight about the name of the egg hunt... or be glad that it's not called an Easter thing because I don't really want Lucas thinking that's all Easter is!

Recently, I read an article in Relevant Magazine titled "The Hunt for Easter: Looking for Meaning Amidst the Kitsch."  It was a great read about how Christians don't really know what to do with our seemingly most sacred holiday.  So, most try to avoid Martha Stewart's version and at least add in some church and family time.  That's what we did.

I'd love to hear how you celebrate Easter with your family!