Tuesday, April 11, 2006

More birthdays & holidays

April and May are always hectic. My son turned 19 April 2, and then we have Easter, and coming in May I have Sunflower's 18th birthday on the 1st, which needs to be really special, and Punkin's 1st birthday on the 10th, which needs to be really special. It occured to me yesterday, as I was thinking about Easter, that I have 3 weeks till Sunflower's birthday and only a month till Punkin's. I haven't thought about either one yet. I'm still trying to figure out Easter... and I have 5 days left.

We do Easter a bit differently at our house. I don't like all the candy holidays. Starting in the fall... there is Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter. Why does each holiday have to have its own candy? I also think religious holidays, like Christmas and Easter, tend to stray to far away from the religious message. So, for Easter, we try to stay clear of the Easter bunny and focus instead on what Easter really is. Easter is a celebration of the greatest gift from God... His son. The sacrifice that Jesus Christ went through, and the resurrection, are the greatest gifts given to man. We celebrate the great and wonderful gifts of God at Easter. We talk about what Christ did for us, and the reason for the holiday. My children also get one gift that celebrates a gift from God. This can be almost anything. When they were little, they got books, coloring books, art sets, craft kits, cross-stitching kits, anything that helped them develop their talents. Our talents are gifts from God. One year we focused on animals, one year they got those inexpensive recorders (flute like instruments) with the music book, one year they got cds of their favorite church/primary music. Everything we have comes from God, and we use this holiday to recognize that, and work at developing the talents and gifts that God has given us. I'm still not sure what we are going to do this year. I'll figure it out in the next day or so. I have a few ideas.

There are a few milestone birthdays that require an extra effort... 1, 5, 8, 12, 16 & 18 specifically. I want to make Sunflower's 18th birthday special. I have no ideas. None. Punkin's 1st birthday will be a little easier. Hopefully it will be warm and we can go to a park and have a picnic, and let her eat her cake. I don't even know what to get Sunflower for her birthday!!! She loves clothes... what teenager doesn't. I just always do that. I want something different... something unique. I'm completely blank... and I'm running out of time.

4 comments:

Sisiggy said...

We did the Easter bunny thing when they were really little, though it was the first myth to go (in spite of the time I grated carrot crumbs all over the dining room). One year I painted several eggs with various Easter symbols, a cross, crown of thorns, a lamb, etc., then we hung them on a "tree" (actually a spray-painted branch), but the eggs never survived the storage area. When we were homeschooling I filled their baskets with seed and gardening tools in prep. for a botany curriculum.
And I stink at kids' birthdays. I just let them tell me what they want.

Katrina said...

I love your thoughts on Easter. The idea of gifts celebrating our blessings from God is a great one! Thank you so much for sharing!

Greeneyes said...

Bravo on your way of celebrating Easter , we all should take a lesson from you there , I try to do less and less with the Bunnies and more of the true meaning behind Easter, I appaud you!

As far as your sunflower , does she drive yet? most likely, but could give something like safety lessons for driving ,or a day at the spa bieng pampered with you and one of her friends, maybe her friends can help?
I know it is hard when they are that age but whatever you chose , she'll love it , it comes from YOU!
Congrats on her passing and I love the blog . May God watch over you Easter and always
take care
Greeneyes

Greeneyes said...

thats applaud tee hee whoops sorry!