Thursday, April 5, 2012

Easter is..

A weird holiday in our house.

When I was a kid it started out normal enough. We did the nice new church outfits, and went to Easter church services, we had visits from the Easter Bunny, and we did the eggs hunts and baskets filled with candy and all that nonsense.

Then, we got into health food.. so the candy turned into educational toys, and maybe some "all natural" treats.

Then we got really poor, and the whole thing turned into church, a letter and our favorite candy bar from mom, and our early morning Easter hike to watch the sunrise. Which was oddly nice, and very stress free.



Then when my parents started studying Passover.. they decided that it was going to be incorporated into our Easter celebration. the first year there was a massive cleaning out of all the yeast and other leavening in the house, and a full on lock down of the house at sundown.


Since that point they've found a nice little groove.. where they can keep their lovely tradition of going on their sunrise walk, they go to church, and then they have their Passover Seder  ( minus the cleaning out of the whole house, and the lock down). It's probably my favorite holiday with my family, and its the meal I look forward to most every year.

So with my own kids, I do the baskets and candy ( although with a bit or restriction since Grayson can't have artificial dyes) and we dye eggs.. and we go on egg hunts.. and then I work in the evenings ( hazard of working in the food industry).

We're not a church going family at our house.. but we still go to my parents house and we have the Passover Seder every year. Rich with singing, and reading bible verse, and kids hunting for hunks of bread ( yes, really!), and just small ritual portions of food until, more than an hour later, we get to eat dinner. we don't always have it on the right day.. but we plan it around when we can all be there.. I'd say its become out most important family holiday, the one that takes highest priority. Definitely the one that I place the most importance on being able to attend.

And we're not even remotely Jewish.

And I'm not even remotely religious.

And I'm OK with that.. because the whole thing is beautiful. And even if I'm not a card carrying church goer, I can appreciate the rich history and the beauty of tradition, and story telling.

For me, that's what Easter is about.

That, and curried lamb.

12 comments:

  1. I loved Passover dinner with your family. The few times I got to go were amazing. I actually miss it :( Eat some lamb for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh I will.. I think we're waiting a week to celebrate it though because mom and dad are in SLC for the constitution party convention. :-/
      I do like that we're flexible like that.

      Delete
  2. Yummmy E...
    Happy Easter
    Do check out my E at GAC a-z

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your visit! :) I'm having a hard time navigating your website... I will keep trying though. :)

      Delete
    2. just click FAQ for instructions and thanks :)

      Delete
  3. What an awesome tradition. I love how it changed and evolved over the years. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Emily! I so appreciate your visits, and the comments. you're a sweetheart!

      Delete
  4. What a gorgeous evolution of the holiday and family traditions to something so meaningful.


    *~ MAJK ~*
    Twitter: @Safireblade
    A to Z Blog Challenge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think so too.. I'm really interested to see where ours ends up with our kids.. it seems to be an ever evolving things. I LOVE tradition mixed with flexibility.
      Thanks again for the visit!

      Delete
  5. What a great thing for your children to experience; the blending of traditions from two spectrums of this holiday time.
    I am not jewish, but have had the pleasure of partaking in many a Passover dinner, with my daughter, and I think of all the times those were some of my favourites.

    I am also not particularly religious -but find it fascinating how people come into their holiday traditions over years of adding and subtracting to them.

    Enjoy this Easter/Passover time with all of your family.

    Jenny @ Pearson Report
    Co-Host of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Passover is such a rich holiday, dont you think? there's something magical about it.

      Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend too.

      Delete
  6. I really appreciate your post and Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete