Is Easter a big celebration in your home?

[Lovely2CU]

We do less and less as we've got older. Our family used to get together on, or near to Easter Sunday, but we all live too far apart now. We exchange eggs and a few novelty small gifts, and thats about it!

 

[Kim&Chris]

It's a big deal in my house. I have two nieces and 1 nephew, all young, and I hide eggs in our yard. Each kid gets 50 eggs (we have a BIG yard ), so it's a lot of fun. All of the eggs have a little prize inside. After the egg hunt, we have a nice early dinner, then everyone hangs out for a while.

Not so much a religious gathering, but definitely a fun family gathering.

I'll be sad when the kids stop wanting to do these egg hunts

 

[Christine]

Not much anymore. When my kids were little we would do the hunt for eggs and the Easter basket. We always had a nice dinner.

Now my kids are 18 and 15. Both my parents and I have full time jobs, no one wants to spend the day in the kitchen. DD is on her college spring break and has to be back at her college on Monday, which means a 4 hour drive each way to and from her school on Easter Sunday to get her back. Not much time for celebrating. But I'm just so over it all anyway...

 

[puffkin]

No, not really. I mean, we do the easter basket and stuff for DS but it is hard to really do a big family gathering. Especially in this part of the country, Easter is often pretty cold and dreary so no one really wants to host and have the kids all cooped up in the house for the day (especially after a long winter). This year it is supposed to be gorgeous but that isn't usually the case.

 

[AndreaDM]

Not really. I do like to make a big dinner, but I do that most Sundays anyway because I love to cook. It's usually just our immediate family or occassionally friends who don't have extended family nearby either. My FIL is a pastor in another state, so that's his busiest week of the year, so they never come here and it's DH's busy time at work so we never travel in the spring. Our neighborhood association has an egg (more like scavenger) hunt about week before Easter and that's about it! We might color eggs at some point and I have made cookies in the past, but it's no big deal. We are even talking about skipping church this year (shhhhhhh).

 

[Golf4food]

Easter is a Holy day for us, not a day of rabbits and eggs. We have no problem with the Easter bunny and will give baskets to our kids like we got them growing up, but the Holiness is far more important than the eggs and bunnies. Lunch with family after church, etc.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

We have a dinner but it's nothing formal.

 

[VillageMama]

Easter is an even "bigger" holiday than Christmas, in terms of religious significance. It is Christ's resurrection, even more than His birth, that is the basis of salvation.

So yes, we celebrate it big time.

Not necessarily in a more elaborate way than Christmas. Christmas gets more decorations, more music, more presents and extended family gatherings.

But Easter means even more to us, so the first half of the day is spent at church and the second half at home with a nice meal and an egg hunt for the children. This year it might even be warm!!!

 

[HunnyPots]

When my kids were little and my dad was alive, we had big easter celebrations, mostly in the form of easter egg hunts because my dad just loved to hide eggs for the kids and watch them hunt for them, sometimes over and over and over! It was so much fun and I plan on carrying on the tradition when I have grandkids, but now it's pretty much like any other sunday.

 

[robinb]

Nope ... because my DD and DH are Jewish although we do color "Spring Eggs" and then use them at our Passover Seder. I do enjoy a good Easter Brunch, though. Lots of really good food!

 

[luvmy3]

Not really, the EB comes, if we visit family there is a big egg hunt and we have dinner but its not a huge deal. This year we are staying home so all we will do is baskets and dinner. It supposed to be 80 degrees so maybe will take our bikes to the local trail and go riding.

 

[Ohiodislover]

We usually go to church starting on Friday eve, and then Sunrise services on Sunday. Lunch after church. When we were closer to family, we would always go to my in-laws for Easter. My FIL loved doing an egg hunt w/ all the grandkids. Since he has passed it is just not the same

I don't get the girls tons of stuff. We don't do a lot of candy, but will buy some on Monday when its cheap. I usually fix a meal, but the past couple of years, we have went to Fogo De Chao as a splurge.

The Easter bunny has always creeped my youngest out, so that part is very low key. I ended up telling her the truth about the bunny very young, because she would refuse to go to sleep, and have nightmares for the week leading up to Easter I'm amazed that she still believed in Santa after that.

This year, it will just be us, and I will more than likely cook something. DD is still recovering from her tonsils being taken out, so she will kind of call the shots as to what we do. May try a movie if she is up to it.

 

[disykat]

Yes. We are church musicians so we go to 3 services on Easter, plus the youth group both my boys are in does the Easter pancake breakfast. We go in for prep work on Saturday and then breakfast is from 7 - 11. We also have church tonight and and tomorrow night. One of my sons was also in an ongoing play each Wednesday of Lent so he spent lots of time in rehearsals, memorizing lines, etc. Easter is a HUGE deal!

We used to do the Easter Bunny, but don't now that the kids are older. We have a big dinner with several families from church since our families live far away.

 

[dturner]

Not a big deal anymore since DS(14) has gotten older. I'm not even bothering with an Easter basket this year. I'll get DS a book that he's been wanting and we'll probably have a cook out - that's about it.

 

[LuvOrlando]

EVERYTHING is a big deal in my home. I don't care if it's just the 4 of us or a party, the mood is the same. I think everyone sort of feeds off of me

 

[SamRoc]

Yes it is. We all go to Church together and my family comes here for dinner. It is a big religious celebration for us and our family.

 

[HunnyPots]

EVERYTHING is a big deal in my home. I don't care if it's just the 4 of us or a party, the mood is the same. I think everyone sort of feeds off of me

I think I need someone like you in my home! Our get togethers need some energizing!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

not really. It is mostly for DD12 and she is getting older. We do color spring eggs for fun and she still gets a basket.

DH's family still likes to get together and have a dinner. Since we have nothing else going on, we usually end up there.

Me - I would prefer a quiet day (no running around to get things done - no 45 min drive to the in-laws) on the deck (weather permitting) with Mimosas, a nice family brunch for the three of us, and enjoying the outdoors.

 

[Sorsha]

I and my immediate family are Agnostic, so the religious side of the holiday holds very little meaning for us.

We dye eggs with the kids, and they each get an smallish Easter basket filled with candy and goodies on Easter morning.

This year, we are going out to brunch with some family Easter morning, then meeting up with DH's family in the afternoon. His sister is hosting a gathering at her house - egg hunts for all the kids, finger foods and socializing for the adults.

I have tried to teach my kids about the Rebirth symbolized by the Easter holiday. They have Christain family, and they have been taught the story of the resurrection. They have also learned about the Jewish story of Passover and the reasons for the observation of Lent. They have also been taught to look upon the turning of the seasons, the rebirth of the green grass and the flowers and the baby animals, as a chance for rebirth and new beginnings in their own lives. We talk about other spring holidays in other cultures, as well as the ancient pagan/Celtic holidays, and how many of today's holidays are based on them.

I want my kids to have all the information they can possibly have about just about everything.

A "big deal" though? No. No new dresses, no huge meals, no church services. Some fun eggs, a little candy, and some time with family, that's all.

 

[LuvLDM]

No, we aren't religious so it's really just a day of jellybeans & chocolate for us.