he loves playing on our bed
we can't get her to stay still for a second - literally - look at that determination
I've been lazy, lazy, lazy and am going to bunk church this whole weekend.
I'm not a fan of the Good Friday service anyway (I just can't think of Jesus going through all that pain) so I never go.
My MIL is babysitting again (she actually sent us an email to ask us if we'd ever let her babysit again because she felt so bad about Connor's arm ... OF COURSE we will. It didn't even OCCUR to us to not let her babysit!) while we go see "Valentine's Day" and do some baby shopping. Then we'll be home and all 5 of us will go to Gillooly's Farm (gorgeous park with a lake and ducks near our home).
So, I see on the US blogs Easter is a big holiday and you guys buy gifts for the kids, decorate and what-not.
First I've ever heard of this.
It may be in my social/ church circle (South African readers - please correct me if I'm wrong) but on Easter Sunday here in SA, you go to church (if you're the church going type) and then you eat your stash of chocolate Easter eggs. That's it - no gifts and Easter decor :)
So I have three questions for you:
- Does EVERYONE do this? (Would you be the freak for not doing Easter gifts and decorating?)
- Is it a religious thing or a cultural thing?
- What kind of gifts do you do?
Bonus question about decorating
I also noticed that the decorating is a big thing - Valentine's, St Patrick's Day, Easter, etc, etc.
Where oh where do you STORE all that stuff? (seriously, I want to know. I only have one shelf of Christmas decorations. One small shelf :))
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ReplyDeleteThe Easter Bunny here brings candy, but not the gifts like you would get for Christmas. We're going to have to not go to church today because we have to go be with family for dinner. Unfortunately we have to drive a bit to get there.
ReplyDeleteThe only holiday we have lots of decorations for is Christmas. It's stored in the storage area of our basement for the rest of the year. I don't decorate for other holidays and yes, that is very odd around here.
The Easter bunny brings baskets for the kids and hide eggs. The Easter baskets have toys and candy in them. I've read somewhere the average parent spends over $100 on Easter per kid. Oh and pretty much everyone colors easter eggs.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pretty big holiday in the south of the US, EVERYTHING is closed (this only happens on Christmas and Easter!) and everyone meets for Easter meals. We're not religious yet we still hide eggs, do baskets, and we're having friends over later for ham, deviled eggs, rolls, etc.
I think it's a cultural thing but generally the more religious you are, the more you do for the holiday.
And Americans generally have big attics or big garages where they store everything! We have a walk-up attic that is 500 sq ft of unfinished space. You would die to see the space - everything is stored in plastic tubs with labels on it. Decorations for each season! Beach stuff!
To follow up with the previous commenters, we have the Easter Bunny, kinda like Santa Clause, who comes and brings you Easter eggs and baskets. The eggs are hidden all around, so your kid searches your house or the park or whatever and collects the eggs in their basket. It's a competitive thing with older kids. The eggs are usually filled with candy. We also have the Easter Bunny at the mall, usually, (again like Santa) and kids can go get their picture taken with him. A lot of parents (although you're not a freak if you don't) will buy their kids baskets full of toys as a present on Easter. We didn't do anything for Josiah because he's too little to understand, but my mom was going to make an Easter basket for him. That's all of the VERY commercialized side of Easter.
ReplyDeleteThe religious side of it involves going to church. A lot of churches may have a Good Friday service, but it's more common to have an Easter morning service. Along with Christmas, Easter is the biggest day that pretty much ALL people go to church. Even if you only go twice a year, you probably go on Easter. Some churches do special services that involve skits or special sermons revolving around the death and resurrection of Jesus, but not everyone.
And then, a lot of people, religious or not, have a family meal together (like Thanksgiving).
My family is going to church this morning. It's the same church we always go to and it's not a special service. Then we'll have lunch with my extended family, and we may have an Easter egg hunt if any little kids are there. And then we'll just spend the day together.
Oh, and someone mentioned stores being closed. In the Northern U.S. where I am, (which is less religious than the south) some stores are closed, but not everywhere. Most grocery stores remain open, but I know that the place where you paint pottery (for example) will be closed. Hope that helps.
LOL Heather - I have a friend who moved to Las Vegas (think I mentioned her on the blog before) and she said to me, "you won't BELIEVE how these people go overboard with decorations :)"
ReplyDeleteLaura, $100 per kid is ridiculous! It used to be that in SA everything was closed on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter but as it's become more and more commercialised, you now find stores open. Today was like a normal Sunday in Johannesburg.
And... I'm drooling at the thought of that organised attic. Can we have a pic on your blog??? LOL
Mandy, here too people go to church on Christmas and Easter at the very least. Your comment definitely gives me a better idea.
I LOVE it - getting to know different parts of the world :)
Hi, Happy Easter to all. Here's how it happens in lil old New Zealand :)
ReplyDeleteEaster = BIG DEAL AROUND HERE.
Not in the $100/kid type way - OMG! Nope, more in the NZ is known as an extremely secular society and Easter Friday and Sunday are 2 of the 3 days where practically every single shop (bar pharmacies, petrol/gas stations, corner stores) have to close by law. A huge media debate is currently underway about whether this should be so. I think it should - 3 days/year legislated where families (esp the more vulnerable parts of society who tend to work in these affected sectors) are pretty much guaranteed some time together. So I guess in reference to your question, we're capitalising on the religious event for probably more cultural reasons?
Church - me thinks it's a big deal here too. The churches in my suburb have big signs up promoting heaps of different services on the Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Loads of chocolate is the norm. As for gifts - I tend to give chocolate eggs. Sometimes pre-kid I'd make hot x buns to give.
More and more of what I'd term 'Americanisation' of Easter here though with fluffy toys, greeting cards and other gifts becoming more readily available. A bit like how in the last 5 or so years Halloween has turned up too - sigh - so not part of our world.
As for decorating - mostly just Christmas. A little bit of Eastery stuff is turning up in the burbs. Of course the stores go nuts for any occasion. As for storing the stuff - bless big plastic boxes in the attic. But I still limit the number of boxes so new stuff in means old stuff out.