Spring

     Easter and Christmas - I've always struggled with them (once I got past the Santa Brings Presents and Eater Bunny Brings Chocolate stage).  They're religious holidays, but they're grossly commercialized, so they belong up there with Valentine's Day, but they're deeply meaningful in some religious traditions... it's too much for me to wrap my pea brain around.  I'm not good with mutually exclusive concepts dwelling on the same date.
     I wanted to find ways to create meaning, since the days aren't going away.  Some options: do nothing and just be straightforward with our daughter about it from the get go.  Plenty of kids don't do Christmas and Easter and they live to tell the tales.  Or rather, to not tell tales, since we're throwing in Lying to our Children on top of Buying a Bunch of Crap.
     That's not very fun though, and we like fun.  Another option is to just put my blinders on and go for the gold - Cadbury eggs and all.  Can't really spiritually quest that way, though.  Since my whole goal is to find meaning and marrow in the ordinary things, I had to do better than that.
     So, for lack of creativity, I decided to do a little non-candy basket with a few books, a DVD, and some funky forks (she really likes tableware, what can I say?)  My mother in law also got the baby an adorable little few things so we put that out too.  I covered the coffee table in a red gingham vinyl table cloth, you know, the kind you take on a picnic.  And I decided to see what happened.  My only goal was to get outside into nature.
     There is such a grace to letting life unfold and give you answers.  For starters, our daughter was totally underwhelmed, cranky and woke up way too early.  My husband nearly went to war with a sippy cup.  If I was married to the idea of the idyllic Easter, I would have been crying by 6:30am.  Instead, I wrangled the family, banned the iPhones, poured bowls of goldfish crackers, and made everyone watch the DVD.  Voila! An Easter tradition of snuggling and snacks was born.
     Still not sure what to do with the rest of the day, we took a blissful 2 hour family nap - another Easter tradition born, one centering around rest and renewal.  I can get on board with that.
     Later in the day we went to the park and rejoiced in the movement of running, climbing, swinging!  We then took a lovely long stroll down the creek in the park.  We looked at all the small signs of life - the buds on the trees, the daffodils, the way the water runs under the bridge, the fresh tiny green leaves.  We literally hugged trees.  I can't imagine a better way to introduce my toddler to Easter - traditions centering around new life, renewal, Mother Nature waking up and washing her face.
     That's how we drew some meaning from a day that doesn't have a lot of authentic meaning to me.  Last year I spent it in the church vestibule bouncing a way too heavy child and commiserating with another similarly miserable mom.  I didn't find new life in that church, heavy with male leadership and incense.  I found it in the green grass, the light of life in my baby's eyes, and the sweetly blue sky.