BayouKidz | Easter Memories

article by Cindy G. Foust

Happy month of April Fool’s to my devoted readers of this wonderful magazine. I’m going to start this month with a question for you: Does anyone really observe April Fool’s Day anymore? I never hear anyone talk about a great joke they played, so I’m thinking it might be one of those holidays that has just lost its luster. Kind of like National Burrito Day. It hasn’t always been lackluster in my family, though, like the one time, when Scott and I first got married, that I changed out the sugar bowl he used for coffee and filled it up with salt. It was funny until it wasn’t and he was spewing and sputtering for a minute…or two. On another April Fool’s Day, me and my two sisters and I (it always sounds better to have a “team” of culprits) put a plastic spider on the handle of the mailbox, you know, to play a simple prank on the mail carrier. Well, I don’t think she really observed this holiday either, because she wrote a sort of ugly note to my parents and said she was deathly afraid of spiders and she was sick with panic and fear when she pulled up to our mailbox, and it made her almost quit her job. That was kind of terrible. Oh, and we kind of got in trouble. So, no, I’ve just never really had good luck trying to observe this specific holiday, and my memories, well, they are kind of bad. 

But, Easter, on the other hand, another holiday on the calendar for this month, now I could fill the pages of this magazine with my Easter memories. I guess this year, since eggs are so expensive, everyone will be dying potatoes, or maybe rocks.  In case anyone needs to be brought up to speed on my column, we are a holiday family, rich with traditions, so if I let my mind just wander a bit, I can get pretty nostalgic pretty quick. Easter was no different than the other holidays, and traditions have always been strict, like having the Easter Egg Hunt at my grandmother’s house. For years, we dyed eggs after lunch, and the older family members hid them, probably several times before the day was over. As we got older, we began hiding them for the younger kids. One of my top “five” favorite holiday memories would have to be the year me and my two sisters were getting ready to hide the eggs, and my late sister, Angel, disappeared on us. We waited and waited…and finally decided to just start hiding the eggs, because the younger kids were screaming. Off we went, ready to play the Easter Bunny, getting the 300 eggs hidden, and still no Angel. Where in the world? Somebody finally let the little ones out and we are all in the front yard watching the craziness that ensues, when suddenly, without warning, we look down the hill and we see this 6’2” Easter bunny hopping down the “bunny trail.” Except it wasn’t just any Easter bunny, it was the “Michael Jackson” Easter bunny. You heard me right, Angel had snuck home (my parent’s lived right next door to my grandparents), and dressed up like her then idol, Michael Jackson (readers, don’t judge, we all might not agree with his sort of strange and quacky lifestyle, we have all loved us some Billie Jean or some Thriller, right?) Yes, Angel hopped right through the yard, in her homemade costume, complete with a sequined glove, and moonwalked her way into my top five holiday memories. Those were the days. 

Fast forward and I find myself writing about my memories for my readers. Holidays give us frequent opportunities to start new traditions, or participate and enhance old ones. This year, things will be a little different in our family because my little baby granddaughter love will have her first basket from Lulu. Incidentally, she’s about to start walking, or so we think, but it’s too late because she has already walked her way right into our hearts. Heck, I might even try to eclipse Angel and dress up like Elvis Presley bunny rabbit and play Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog for her. That’s a joke, my kids would definitely leave this family and move to Montana. What about you, readers? Are your minds racing with wonderful ideas on enhancing your current Easter traditions or are you inspired to create new ones? If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to take a little time and create some special plans, or work at strengthening the traditions you already have in place. Happy Easter, readers! I hope your holiday will be filled with wonderful, quality time with your family, good food, great old (or new) traditions and maybe even a few Cadbury eggs.

Cindy G. Foust is a wife, mom, author and blogger. You can find her blog at the alphabetmom.com for weekly columns about home life,  parenting, small business stories and insight with a smidgen of literacy. Give her a like or follow on Facebook and Instagram.