All Hail To My Cousin LeaAnn

My cousin LeaAnn posted her fabulously hilarious post about Easter a few days ago. She completely inspired me. She told her children that there was no Easter Bunny, be happy for what they got for Easter and called it good. How wonderful!!

I have been struggling with what to do for some of these holidays. Seriously, I am quite irritated at the Easter Bunny, the Leprecauns, the Tooth Fairies, the Ghosts and Goblins. The only one who seems to be safe from my prejudice seems to be Santa. He might be safe a few more years. Other than Santa, we didn't grow up with all of the hype from other characters. I have been wrestling with coming into my own for our family. I have been torn between being a fun mom, creating good memories, starting worthy traditions based on gospel principals and not getting flogged by friends and family who tell us that if we ruin their holidays...we're toast. Bringing the gospel into the holidays isn't our problem. Keeping the world out is.

So, after LeaAnn's post, I girded up my loins, took a deep breath, and plunged into scarring my child for life.

At breakfast on Thursday, I broke the news to Chase. I told him, there was no Easter Bunny. The look on his face both relieved me and broke my heart. His face literally said to me, "Dadgummit...I KNEW that was coming." I think he was pretty much on the fence if he was believing or not. I just pushed him off. He gave a sad face for two seconds, then quickly and nervously added that Santa was the only one that was real...right...? I am letting that slide for now. I can't be a complete nincompoop stick-in-the-mud. I can't squash all childhood magic! Then Chase said and did the most wise thing a newly devastated 5 year old could say and do, he said, "Yup, Easter is all about Jesus." And then he thanked ME for the great Easter Basket. Bless your heart, Chase.

Now, before all of you friends and family that utilize these other holiday characters nail me to the wall, I did mention to Chase, the wise counsel of my mom. Each family is different and each family can do what they need to do. I mentioned to him that we will have a lot of fun on these holidays and make fun traditions, but we won't be expecting any visits from characters, except from an underplayed Santa. Hopefully, the subject is dropped. I don't want any phone calls from parents who intercept an argument between their child and Chase on who is real and who is not.

So, here's to you, LeaAnn and all of you other amazing parents that juggle the world and the gospel. Here's to all the children who had a great Easter, inspite of well-meaning parents!!

Here are some pictures of our Bunny-free Easter.

Dying Easter eggs. Grandma was with us the

week before Easter. What a treat!! Better than

any Easter Bunny!

Hunting for eggs on Friday before Easter. Chase

knew the eggs were hidden by me. One conversation

I didn't have to have. Whew!

Chase did a scavenger hunt for his basket. He read

all of the clues by himself! Way to go, Chase!