Buona Pasqua!

Zeke and I have been adamant about raising Liam (and now Josephine) to know holidays for what they should represent... not just a jolly fat man who spies on you and breaks into your home to leave you presents or a giant rabbit that roams around people's yards pooping out candy-filled eggs. We never want our kids to be confused about what really matters. Liam knows Christmas is Jesus' birthday (and Pappy's!), and he knows more than he probably should at his age about the death and resurrection of Jesus that we reflect upon every Easter.

But as you can see from these pictures, we also never want our kids to miss out on commercial fun.

When Josephine woke us for a sunrise feeding, Zeke and I stayed up and got to work. While Zeke found some entertaining places to hide eggs and treats, I stalked him with my hand-drawn map of our yard. I mean, come on. It's Liam. He performed an archaeological dig for Christmas. Of course he is going to want a map to search for Easter goodies.

The next morning, Liam reviewed the map and said, "Hey Mommy, we never got this special treat over here."
And I was all authoritative, saying, "No, we got them all."...
"But look at the map. You didn't cross it off."
"I just forgot to mark it. I am sure we got them all." (I was now no longer sure of that... but had to maintain a semblance of omniscience for the guy.)
"Okay, Mommy. We wouldn't want to leave anything outside or it might go bad."

After this little informative conversation, Liam headed to his room to grab his Zoobs and build another amazing robot creature. Meanwhile, I quietly stepped outside into the yard. Lo and behold, a Snickers peanut butter egg was still neatly tucked in one of the hiding spots. After a day in the sun, it had completely misshapen, but it was still in perfect, unopened condition. I brought it in the house and stuck it in the fridge.

And like a good, protective Mommy, I didn't force Liam to eat the abandoned candy. I ate it. Like five minutes after I put it in the fridge. The sacrifices we parents make...  :)

I hope everyone had a Buona Pasqua -- Happy Easter, giant candy-pooping bunnies and all.