Well, the Easter eggs have been colored and eaten, the chocolate bunnies have been massacred, and another holiday is in the memory books.
The time is going so fast now that I can’t even seem to catch my breath anymore.
Not only are my own children growing, but my niece and three nephews have the nerve to grow up right before my eyes as well. This was so apparent at my parents’ house for the now-traditional Easter Saturday gathering.
How is it possible that the same little girls who used to color eggs and compare the loot in their Easter baskets are now the mothers for this brood?
It seems like the perfect time to re-run an essay I did last Easter. This piece ran April 24, 2011, and is as relevant to me as it was a year ago.
A Link in the Chain
I was boiling eggs for our kids to color for Easter when I realized it was official… I’m a grown-up.
I am 45, and you would think this revelation would have hit me sooner. But my sisters and I all waited until our thirties and forties to have children and had an extended childhood of sorts.
I’ve been on my own since I was 23, but it wasn’t until I had my own children that my parents stopped coloring eggs with us, or at least, for us, if we couldn’t come early for the egg coloring. There was also a lovely Easter basket waiting for me on Easter morning.
As I was getting everything ready for our brood this year, it occurred to me that the torch has been passed. Memories of my own childhood are still on my mind, but they have been surpassed by memories I have of the family I created with my husband.
We’ve developed our own traditions, different from the ones I grew up with.
A case in point would be my version of egg coloring, which is certainly not as professional as my father’s. He would faint if he saw the mess I made as I added color to the bowls because the kit I bought was not doing such a good job.
There were no kits in my house when I was growing up. We used food coloring.
If my father had his way, we would have made dye from the vegetables and flowers my sisters and I would have had to forage for in the suburban wilds of Long Island.
Thank you Mom for keeping Grizzly Adams on a leash.
My father’s egg coloring operation was enough for an army of bunnies. The egg holders were fashioned out of wire: Store-bought holders were not for us. The bowls of dye were lined in a row, and the eggs were laid out so the festivities could begin.
My father has been coloring eggs my whole life, even when there wasn’t a baby or child in sight.
My parents love to celebrate holidays. My mother made the most beautiful Easter baskets for us filled with handmade chocolate bunnies, intricately decorated sugar eggs, and other truly beautiful confections from speciality candy stores.
Mass-market bunnies were not for her girls. The baskets frequently had a theme, such as a garden or spring toys. When I was eight, she did a sewing theme and I got pink thread, a pin cushion, and sewing needles.
There was a magical excitement to walk downstairs and find the baskets we set out the night before lined in a row and filled with treats. Each basket was topped with a beautiful bow or ribbon that mom would put in our hair for church.
My sisters and I would giggle, eat jelly beans, and compare what the bunny brought us: “I got pink bubbles…” “I got blue…” “My bunny has a purple bow…” “Mine has yellow.”
The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus were all important visitors to our house throughout my childhood.
They were so important that long after we were children, my parents incorporated them into our holidays. Egg hunts and all. This of course was a source of amusement for our husbands.
The other day my 12-year-old, Tom, and I were discussing plans for Easter. It’s been extra fun this year because our six-year-old, Peter, has been so excited over the prospect of a visit from the Easter Bunny.
“Mom, it is so cute that he believes in the Easter Bunny,” said Tom, who was four when he figured there was no such thing.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” he said at the time.
I shared with him that, until he was born, my parents still hid eggs for me and his aunts. He thought this was hysterical. The image of his grown mother and her sisters looking for colored eggs was just too much. Then he said, “That’s so cute mom.”
My parents are in their glory now with seven grandchildren ranging from 12 years down to five months. My mother’s beautiful baskets are now reserved for her grandchildren, who open them up with the same amazement my sisters and I had.
The egg hunts are much more exciting now with children rushing all over the yard.
I relish the idea that years from now there will be a whole new generation talking about their memories of my parents and the holidays they made special.
In my house, I am the one and only official Easter Bunny. Different perhaps then the bunny of my childhood, but just as special for our three children.
The chain continues.
I hope whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or the arrival of Spring, you have the pleasure of spending it with people you love. As always, thank you for your wonderful support. The dishwasher returns with a new post next week.
Kathy Radigan
So beautiful. I enjoyed reading this post Kathy. Well, I don’t have much idea about the traditions around easter. Yay, now I got a lot of info…Thanks!
Always stay blessed with your wonderful family & kith and kins!
Thanks so much!!! You are such a doll, I love to hear from you!! Glad I could enlighten you about our Easter traditions!Lol! They are fun!! Wishing you much happiness and blessings with your beautiful family as well!! xo
how nice that your family had a tradition of coloring Easter eggs together until you had children. We started coloring eggs when we had kids. I hadn’t done it since I was a kid. I am not the best person at doing it. WAs sort of like your dad doing it yesterday…all in order and giving tips on what to do.
Happy Easter to you and your family.
Thanks so much for dropping by!! I was a bit better this year with the kids but nowhere like my dad!! Hope you had a wonderful Easter as well! Thanks again for the support, much appreciated!
I love that tradition. We didn’t even dye easter eggs last year, but I did this year thanks to some Pinterest inspiration. Of course, I didn’t get finished until dinner-time and I finished them by myself, but hey…at least *I* have a memory! LOL!!! I love the little girl in the pink in the picture above! So typical of a family get together!! haha
Well I’m glad you have the memory! See what I would do is from now on I would tell my kids about the year I colored eggs all by myself, and that would be then be their memory too! Lol! But I can be a bit mean!! Lol!! Thanks so much for the visit! The little girl in the pink is our beautiful princess Lizzy, who has special needs! She is a trip!! Thanks again! Hope your family had a great holiday!
That’s a great idea…I shall forever remind them of the Easter I had to dye the eggs by myself because they were to busy playing whatever. A little Jewish guilt on Easter/Passover…not that we’re Jewish, but sometimes I like to pick and choose! 😉 I completely understand special needs, I have one of my own. Today he was not feeling “civilized” so he did not get his picture taken. LOL
I think I got the guilt making gene from my mother! We are not Jewish either, but I think Italian guilt is a pretty good runner up!! Lol!! It’s always nice to meet another family who walks the special needs path. It always makes me feel less alone. We have been in the “not civilized” zone ourselves! Thanks so much for reaching out!! I look forward to reading more about your story!!
Family traditions are one of the things that helps hold a family together. Your mother and fathers traditions and the ones you have for your kids sound magical. My little granddaughter is just 1 year old, I’m hoping next Easter we’ll have our house and she can come over and hunt for colored eggs. Happy Easter sweet friend!
Becky you are so right about that! I can remember times when I was growing up that there might have some difficulties of one kind or another yet it was the familiar traditions that really kept us together as a family growing up and it’s what makes the harder times in our own life now more manageable!! Much love to you as well sweet friend!! xo
Kathy, your story is such a beautiful tribute to your parents. It is a blessing that you continue to celebrate holidays with them and continue to make wonderful memories that your own children will share. I have always felt that holidays are about family! It is so important to give our kids that feeling of love and togetherness, it’s priceless!
Thanks for sharing!
Lisa
Lisa you are so right about that feeling of love and togetherness, it really is priceless! What a wonderful gift to have received, and to be able to give! Thanks so much for visiting!! I look forward to reading your comments! xo
I am thankful for every holiday spent with my little brood. I try to make each one special but not stressful. It’s a delicate balance but I want my kids to grow up and have the kind of fond memories you and your sisters share. So sweet!
I work on the stress/special balance too!! I hope you made some wonderful memories with your beautiful family this Easter!! Much love my friend!
What a beautiful essay! I had to share, my parents still did “Santa” gifts to my brother and I until the Christmas we were both expecting our first children (we have sons who were born 6 weeks apart). Out last gifts from Santa came with a note telling us that Santa was now for the next generation. Hey…we were both in our 30’s by that point, it was about time, even if it was a little sad to let go that part of our childhood. This past Christmas my husband and I started our own family tradition…staying HOME for Christmas with our kids. We travel every Christmas and we just got tired, we wanted to do Christmas our way and it was the best Christmas ever! We still saw our extended families, but we had Christmas morning to ourselves.
I love the idea that you and your husband carved out special time to make your own holiday memories. We have been doing some of that too and it really is important. Those memories really are priceless! I also think they make the harder times in life a little easier! Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your own family with us! I love hearing about how other families handle traditions! It’s some of the sweetest parts of life!! xox
Another wonderful post from the dishwasher!
Keeping traditions alive, to me, is like paying homage to the elders in our family. This Lenten season, my son didn’t eat meat for a week and stayed home the entire Friday. Although kids are usually exempted from the no-meat rule, my son loves fish and veggies a lot that he didn’t even ask for hotdogs or fried chicken. 🙂
Happy Easter, Kathy! Blessings to you and your family! 🙂
I love that your son wanted to start participating in the traditions of your faith and family. I always felt it was important growing up that we had a strong foundation and I love it when I see my kids express that same feeling!!!
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter too!! Blessings and much love to you and your family!! xo
What a fabulous tradition! I loved coloring eggs, too, as a child. We would write and draw on them with white crayons before we dyed them. Then the color wouldn’t stick to the crayon wax and our words and images would appear. “The Easter Bunny” always wrote little notes on the eggs for my brother and me. I can’t wait to do that for my little guy when he’s older. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter full of traditions – old and new.
Melissa I love that your Easter bunny as a child wrote messages on the eggs for you and your brother! What a great idea!!! I may borrow that one for next year, even though our days our numbered with the Easter bunny now that Peter is 7!!! Boo hoo!!! Lol!! I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday filled with traditions new and old too! Much love friend!!
When we were younger, we always saw are parents as OLD. But now we’re at the age they once were, it doesn’t feel so old. So I get what you mean when you say there are times you feel like an “adult.” (sorry that sentence had a lot of “you’s” in it)
Hope you enjoyed your Easter 🙂 And yes, we are adults!
Oh it’s so true, my mom is 69, which at 46 doesn’t seem so old at all! But when my grandparents were that age, they were ancient!!!
I had a great Easter! I hope you and your family did too!! xo
I love the photo of the cousins. They really do grow so fast. One of my dearest friends called today, and she thought my husband answered the phone. It was my son. *sob*
It sounds like your holidays were wonderful, and magical growing up! I’m a huge softie for tradition and nostalgia.
I hope you had a wonderful Easter.
-Catherine
Catherine holidays were really important to my family, and it helped because there were times when things weren’t so great, yet we had the traditions to fall back on!
I really hate that the kids are getting older! I know I’m not supposed to, but it just happens all too fast! Yet, it is wonderful to meet the people they are becoming! It really was cute to see all the cousins playing this weekend! Thanks so much for the visit! I hope you had a great Easter as well! xo
What an amazing job your parents did in establishing traditions! I love that your dad made his own metal egg dyeing tool.
My father would have made his own bowls if my mom hadn’t controlled him a bit! He is very funny!! I’m not kidding, he would have sent us to forage in the wild if we didn’t live in the suburbs!! Lol!! Thanks so much for the visit!! Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!
LOVE your traditions! Your parents sound much like mine. Lots of eggs, visits from the Easter Bunny who left big baskets of goodies. Sadly, my kids are not at all interested in egg hunts any longer. Well, we had one at our family gathering. They quickly became involved when they discovered that many of the plastic eggs were filled with cash instead of just candy. ☺
Happy Monday, friend! ☺
Not even your daughter!!! Say it’s not so!!! Lol! My parents put money in the eggs too, they were pretty motivated. Even my three year old nephew thought it was cool when I explained if he got enough he could probably buy a matchbox car! Then he really became more motivated!! Lol! I hope you and your family had a very joyous Easter!! Much love my friend! xo
Kathy, this is such a great one. I remember it! Kids do grow up so fast. I paused to take in Easter and realized the little cousin I babysat is now a woman. Crazy!
I know Becky, it really blows your mind when these little kids are now in college and beyond!! At least our kids are still “kids”. Though, it was painful to realize they won’t be forever! Though they are growing into great people and are lots of fun!! Happy Easter!! xoxo
I loved how you put it so well—How dare they grow up??!!! Everytime I look at my little one, I feel that way and though I know I’m resisting the inevitable, hence wasting my energy, I still can’t help but feel a bit sad at how time flies by so fast…all the more reason to savor each moment I guess. Happy Easter to you and your loved ones Kathy!
You are so right Joy! Though I must say that as they get older you do gain something more too. There is such a feeling of family now as we can all sit at the table and enjoy each other. Happy Easter to your family as well!! xoxo
Happy Easter!
Great post. One of my favorite parts about Easter is the chocolate.
Thanks so much!!! You can’t go wrong with a holiday that includes lots of chocolate! Hope you and your family had a great Easter!!
I am still stunned at the idea of handmade chocolate bunnies. I mean stunned. I actually never have imagined them not being produced by a mold by a machine, no hands ever touching them….shows you how undomesticated I truly am I guess. Your parents sounds amazing and your Easter celebrations so special. Such an awesome post!
My mother didn’t make them, she found stores that made them!!! She always loved small chocolate shops. She must have paid a fortune. We never had hollow bunnies. My husband didn’t even think that was possible!! My kids have mass made chocolate from our bunny! The poor babies!! xo Thanks so much for the kind words. I always love to see your comments!!
Would you believe that we didn’t color any Easter eggs this year!? I feel shameful about it lol…even though I don’t have any kids, I do have a little brother and some nieces. We did give them a nice Easter Egg hunt in the backyard, but only used plastic eggs and not any colored ones. I always feel repetitive saying this…but what a great read! Your kiddos are so cute and growing up faster than you probably would like! I can’t believe it’s already April! This year is flying by.
No eggs! And you lived to tell about it! Amazing!! Lol! My parents use the plastic ones for their egg hunts now. Not, when we were kids though!! Thanks for the kind comments and for your support! I really appreciate it friend!
Grizzly Adams on a leash- funny! I do love traditions. Your egg hunt is like our looking for the hidden piece of Matzo. It doesn’t matter how old I get, or how old my nephews get, it’s always a hoot. I’m glad you had a nice weekend with family. xoxo
Traditions are always so much fun! I could just see you trying to find the piece of Matzo with your nephews! Much love to you my dear friend!
Ok, next year Grizzly Adams and I will vegetable dye our eggs together! Love that. I am really into starting strong traditions, it is what will keep them coming back after they leave the nest. That is what our overnight on the boat is all about. Another beautiful, reflective post my dear.
Btw, LOVE Miss Lizzy’s ears.
Val, those ears weren’t even hers, they were the babies! She is a trip! You would get along very well with my dad!! I so agree, traditions really do help keep families together through the hard times. I love that I have the sweet memories from my childhood to look back on. Much love to you my friend!! xo
This was a beautiful post!! I love family traditions and creating memories for the kids to grow up remembering. It sure sounds like you had a great childhood full of wonderful holidays and festivities! Seeing your own children share in the joy and do all the things you used to as a child is priceless isn’t it?!
Happy Easter!!
It really is Kerry, it’s the good stuff!! I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday too! Thanks so much for the visit, I always like to see your comments!
We love making our own traditions. Since neither of our parents live near us, holidays are spent however we want and we have had a lot of fun coming up with our own traditions and meaningful ways to celebrate. Our peeps tradition is something the kids really look forward to now and we only just started it last year. It is time well spent together.
Kim it really does make a difference doesn’t it? Growing up we did not have family close by either, I think that’s why my parents made such a big deal with our own traditions. I’m going to pop over to your site now to read about your peep tradition! xoxo
Happy Easter to you and your family! I know before I know it, my kids are going to be the grown ups celebrating with their kids. I just need to enjoy these moments while I can. Love Lizzy’s bunny ears too 🙂
Hope your beautiful family had a great Easter too! Much love to you!! xo
Beautiful post as always Kathy. I have memories of coloring eggs and finding my Easter basket (it was always hidden) until my mom passed away when I was 16. I’m not sure if my dad stopped doing it after that or if the memory is just missing from my mind because my life was so different after that. I continued the tradition when I had my own kids in my late 20’s.
I have a hard time looking ahead though and seeing them do the same thing with their kids (when I’m a *gulp* grandma). It actually hurts to think that far in the future- I just hope my girls treasure the memories we made together when they were little (I know I always will). Happy (late) Easter to you and your family- beautiful picture of all the kids and your nieces and nephews.
Sue thanks so much for sharing your own experience with this. My husband lost his mother when he was young too and he said the traditions just stopped. I know it has been a mixed blessing for him now that we celebrate our own families holidays together. I’m so glad you have the chance to re-visit them with your own beautiful girls. Thanks so much for the visit, I always love to read your thoughtful comments.
Another wonderful post. I love the picture of the kids. What a nice tradition. I didn’t establish enough of them with my kids — fortunately they are forgiving and love me anyway.
Traditions are very nice, and I’m very glad I had them but I think there are all sorts of memories we build for our families and they don’t have to come out looking like a Pinterest board for them to be special. At least I hope that’s the case, since the traditions Joe and I have with our kids are more of the comedic kind and less the Martha Stewart kind my mom tried to give us!!Lol!! Thanks for popping in! Much love to you!
Thanks for sharing such a lovely recollection. It brought me back to memories of my childhood Easter which were quite similar.
Thank you! It is nice to have those memories isn’t it?! xo
Love this story Kathy. Love it!
I love traditions. And I love that you are passing on what your mom did with you to your kids. It’s this stuff they’ll remember later on, of that I’m sure.
Thanks so much Susan! I really feel it’s the traditions my parents gave me that helped see us through the more difficult times. I must confess my baskets are not like the ones my mom did for my sisters and I, her’s looked much prettier, mine are more of the “Gee she tries hard” kind!! But I know mine love them because they are theirs!! Much love to you! xo
Love this Kathy, We have traditions also, i remember when I was little and how I loved all the traditions my family had, so i wanted my kiddies to have the same bringing up.
Pamela thanks so much! I love reading how others celebrated holidays when they were younger and how it effected how they celebrate today!! xo
Hey Kathy,
You’ve inspired me to get more involved next year. In 2012 all we did was lay some eggs (chocolate – store bought! – in a path around some furniture. BOTH kids thought it was pretty lame. After reading this, I have to agree with them. Thanks for the kick in the pants, and a great post.
Kenny the funny thing is one day your kids may share the best laughs over what didn’t always go right too!! I’m sure my kids will laugh at how I tried more than succeeded in our holiday traditions! Thanks so much for coming by!!
You know, your parents, well your whole family, just sound amazing. I love the tradition you guys have, and sitting back, watching the kids grow up but wanting to keep the traditions. It spells family all over the place 🙂
Mucho luv
Sharon
Thanks so much dear friend!!
We had a ton of company this year but I at least still dyed eggs. My mom had bought all the stuff for Christopher’s basket so all I had to do was make it pretty. My version of “the chain” is dying the eggs like I always wanted to do it. When I was little we only dipped the eggs in one color so they were solid green, pink, yellow etc. We dip and re-dip, and do all kinds of stuff. Our eggs look like tie dye and your father would be appalled. We make a BIG mess. 😉
Big messes is what we are famous for too!!! Although this year my kids were much more methodical. I think they felt the family honor was at stake this year, I have to say we had some very pretty eggs this year! I have to admit I kind of like the kits!! Glad you survived your big weekend, I have to hop over to your site to read the details!! Thanks so much for the visit!
What a wonderful post! Holidays are a great proof of the cycle of life, how we pass our traditions, what’s important to us, on to our children. And one day they’ll do the same for their children. Sounds like you are making your own traditions, but I love how your parents did so much, when you were young, to make sure you had what they deemed an authentic holiday, with homemade chocolate bunnies and all. That’s so special!
Thank you so much for your lovely and thoughtful comments! I really do appreciate it! Hope you had a great holiday as well!
I used to love coloring eggs as a kid. My Mom was always into the holidays with us, and my Dad was such a scrooge, which I now have inherited. It works out fine when the kids are all grown though. You do have to do all of those traditions for the kids, definitely. It just wouldn’t be fair to them.
Courtney it’s so funny how you say you have inherited your dad’s scrooge ways. My husband has a bit of that in him as well, and it provides some very frustrating but very funny moments for us! Let’s just say Joe does not appreciate the need for Easter grass in the baskets!!! Lol!! Much love!
“If my father had his way, we would have made dye from the vegetables and flowers my sisters and I would have had to forage for in the suburban wilds of Long Island.” Hysterical! I’m glad you and your family are making new memories and carrying on your own traditions. These are important as, just like you discuss here, they are the things you look back on fondly throughout the years. Hope you had a very happy Easter!
Laura it’s no joke, thank goodness for my mom or he would have sent us out there!! Lol!!! I hope you and your family got to make some great holiday memories too!!! (By the way, you had me laughing so hard with your last piece!!!) xo
Kathy, I also hope that the traditions we’ve started (or continued) with our kids make beautiful memories for them to build on. Great post!
Thanks so much Jennifer!! I hope you guys had a great holiday too! xo
I love that your parents always colored the eggs even if there were no children in sight… so much fun! I am so in the mood now, after reading this, to color some eggs! When I was little, I would always make easter baskets for my two BFF’s. My mom would put the leftover candy in the fridge. without fail, the next day I would always want a peice of something, and there would be nothing left… my dad would have eaten it all… No wonder when my parents first got married and lived in the same apartment building as my mom’s parents in brooklyn my grandmother would hide chocolate for my mother…to keep it safe
I don’t know how many times I stop and remember my own childhood holiday traditions when creating my own with my family. It’s so bittersweet 🙂
Love the picture! The memories were worth repeating.
It sounds like you had amazing childhood! I love that you guys still hunted for eggs as adults! 🙂 I’ll be like your dad, still coloring easter eggs even after the kids are gone. I love it!