No one ever told me how much thought, effort, and cash money actually goes into keeping the magic alive. I married a man who doesn’t wish to participate in the magic of the holidays, as I have said before, and that is quite alright with me. We have come to our agreements over time. This year was the first time that I played Easter Bunny.
My oldest is five years old as of recently and my youngest, two. For the last four years, my mother is who made Easter happen for my kids. She lived in Florida, but even when we didn’t travel to her for the holiday, she made Easter happen for them. In light of recent events, this task has fallen to me.
As I was franticly rushing to the one retail store that I can safely say I despise, I was trying to come up with some sort of game plan. Our apartment complex had an egg hunt which loaded my children up with enough candy to last for months, so I didn’t want candy, just a chocolate bunny for each. I wanted to be practical and strategic in my shopping for them. My mother was the best at finding unconventional, yet practical, alternatives to the traditional basket receptacle. I thought maybe a backpack for Boogie since he starts school this year, but I wasn’t sure what for Ton Ton. I checked backpacks. All they had for little boys were Paw Patrol. Boogie has moved well past that phase. Back to square one. I gathered a few other things. An outfit for Boogie and a pair of pajamas for Ton, hooded character bath towels, and a chocolate bunny for each. Then I got the heck out of there because I loathe that place.
I then began to panic. I had never done this before. Was I even headed in the right direction? I called on a professional for help. ;]
My father was very encouraging. He assured me that I was doing the right things. He shared what he had done for both my younger brother and my grandmother’s baskets this year and was full of all kinds of helpful hints and tricks, after all, he has been doing these things since my sister Britt was a teeny tiny.
The last stop on my list was Kroger. I needed to get some carrots and greens for the Dragon, as well as some other household staples. I am headed towards the milk when over the loud speaker “Limited time only : all Easter candy on aisle 21 50% off : Limited time only folks! : Thank you for shopping at Kroger.” I couldn’t help but check it out. I grabbed some specialty bunnies for us adults as well as some jelly beans.
I left Kroger and called my father back. I explained that I had spent almost $100 on practical Easter basket stuffings. He told me that it sounded like I had done great and that he wanted pictures. I completely forgot to send the pictures. OOPS! I can fix that tomorrow. Ultimately, the boys had a wonderful Easter and I feel like my mother would be so proud of the job I did. I just hope that I can keep it up over the years to come.