Easter with the Big Kids

Easter has brought a reminder to Meritt that her children are getting older:

As I glance over towards the kitchen I see four Easter baskets lined up in a row. Little yellow Peeps sticking out the top smiling at me.

Where are the children that belong to these baskets?

Asleep.

Long gone are the days of children waking at the crack of dawn to sneak down the stairs to see if the Easter Bunny had come and left them a basket of goodies.

I only had one child who is excited enough about Easter to start hopping around the house before it's even light out. No one else even wants to wake up.

Little Brother conked out about 3 readings into the Easter Vigil last night. We were ready for that, and had a blanket to pad the pew. He didn't move a muscle for the rest of the Mass, and it took me and one of the deacons' wives to get him into his coat so I could take him home (it was below freezing out, so I had to have the coat on him!) He slept all night in his Easter clothes. Since he had fallen asleep at about his regular time, he was up before 7 and bouncing even before he had broken into his Peeps!

Middle Sister is starting to be jaded about the whole thing. She was excited to have a basket, but rolled her eyes a little at the idea of finding her candy-filled eggs. In fact, one egg is still At Large, somewhere in the dining room.

The Easter Bunny didn't even bother hiding Big Brother's eggs. They're just piled up in his basket.

And Mrs. Easter Bunny thought of a new twist on what to put in the baskets this year. We don't go whole hog on the baskets with elaborate gifts, though the kids did receive the new Veggie Tales video. Instead, along with the obligatory Peeps and small chocolate bunny, each child received something they had given up for Lent.

For Little Brother, that was a big tub of colored sprinkles to top his favorite (vanilla) ice cream. Middle Sister found a bottle of orange soda, and for Big Brother, who had given up ice cream, there was a box of Waffle Cones. He knows there's a carton of his favorite (Rocky Road) ice cream in the freezer already.

All of the kids were more excited about these gifts based on their Lenten sacrifices, than anything else in the baskets or hidden eggs. I thought that was pretty cool. So even if two of my kids are getting too old for some of the Easter traditions, it looks like we may have started a new one.

Happy Easter!