I felt this way at Christmas. Then kind of again at Valentine’s Day. And now I’m feeling it again as Easter is this weekend. What’s the thought? I’m beginning to think that holidays are just for kids. Not really for singles (well, those over the age of say 18) and not really for the married, but no kids yet crowd either.
Now, I know deep down in my heart of hearts that it isn’t true. But it seems that way. Think about it:
- Christmas seems to be all about the presents. Sure adults get presents, but really, Christmas is just way more magical when you’re a 5-year-old.
- Valentine’s Day is for romantic love I guess. But in my single years, I never had a boyfriend at the right time. Til I met my husband and I just found the holiday so overwhelming! Now we kind of avoid it all together. But if you had kids? All the things you could do! Red food, hearts everywhere, all kinds of things!
- Easter. I used to wake up Easter morning excited to get dressed in my new Easter dress, find all the eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden and to find my Easter basket. I can’t tell you the last time I got a new Easter dress or an Easter basket.
- Independence Day. Fireworks are awesome. But as you get older, you notice the expense of the holiday way more than the “cool! look at those colors!” factor.
How do you handle this feeling that holidays aren’t really meant for you? It’s what I’m struggling with today. Easter’s coming this weekend and it’s just kind of “uh”. And I hate that it’s that way — it’s the celebration of my Savior dying on the cross for my sins! And I’ve reduced it to “what am I bringing for Sunday dinner?”. Bummer Jayme.
So, I’ve made a decision to put the fun back into the holiday. What does that mean for me?
- Egging someone’s house (in a good way!).
- Printing Easter jokes and posting them around the house.
- Planning a breakfast for Sunday morning that I don’t normally have time to make.
- Making a “RISEN” sign like hers for the living room. I don’t have anything Easter-ish at all.
- Maybe making Baby chicks cake pops. Maybe.
I think it’s possible to do these things and still see Easter as a holy holiday. I don’t want to lose the sacred meaning of the Resurrection. I don’t want to commercialize it either. But I don’t the lose the fun and magic either.
Thoughts? What do you do to make the holiday fun? Am I the only one who feels like holidays are kind of for kids?
As proven by the Happy Easter dances at the INN yesterday, holidays are not just for kids. And yes, there is a Santa Claus.
As my roommates and I were unable to head back to Omaha for Easter with our families, we had about 20 people over including two non-church going co-workers from two different work places. Easter dinner was so wonderful seeing everyone enjoy great food, great company and most of all the great news of our Savior’s resurrection. Beautiful.