Flashback Friday

Week #3 of Flashback Friday! Here are the questions we were asked this week over at Mocha With Linda.

What was Easter like when you were little? For example, did you receive a basket with toys and candy? Was the Easter Bunny part of your family's celebration? Did your family integrate both secular and spiritual aspects of the day? Did you dye Easter eggs. . . .and did your family eat them afterwards? Did you usually get a new outfit? (Post a picture if you have one!) Does any Easter stand out particularly? You might also share how your Easter today is similar or different to your childhood?

My flashback:
As a child I remember many things about Easter. I remember knowing the reason we celebrated was that our Savior is risen. We got new matching clothes. My Mom always fixed an Easter basket for me. I collected bunny rabbits and probably got many of those in my collection from my basket. She always put in a package of Peeps. I never ate the whole pack, usually only one or two, but I loved to get them in the basket every year. Also I remember a pack of egg shaped bubblegum that were different colors and in a little tiny plastic egg carton. We sometimes had egg hunts with cousins. We colored eggs each year. I liked drawing on them with a crayon. I'd always write Mom on one and Dad on another. I guess sometimes we ate them. Another memory is going to visit my great grandparents. We made this trip often on Easter weekend. I guess it was a tradition because many times on Easter we were at their house.

We've continued many of these same traditions with Caleb. We color eggs together. I have pictures of him through the years holding up his hands to show me how dirty they are after he colors the eggs. We let him hunt eggs, and we give him an Easter basket, which he knows is from us. We want to teach him that our risen Savior is really what we are remembering.

A local university puts on an Easter pageant each year. I went one year with my class when I was teaching at a Christian school. Last year I thought I would take Caleb. I knew the play was not graphic but wasn't sure how he would handle it. He seemed to enjoy it, but when they got to the scene with Jesus carrying the cross, he just couldn't watch after that. He turned his head and it brought tears to his little eyes. It really touched my heart that he was so touched by it all. It's something that's hard for him to talk about. We have Easter books, and he doesn't like the pictures of the cross. I'm glad he's sensitive to the suffering Jesus faced.

I look forward to reading others' Easter flashbacks.

Have a day of blessings!