My toddler son came home from daycare last week with a note asking parents for a donation of plastic eggs for an Easter egg hunt. The request was innocent enough, but it stirred up a bit of controversy in my house. Why?
Click here to read the rest of my post over on Lifetime Moms.
Happy Easter!
My Jewish, Omaha-raised husband can definitely relate to this – he clearly remembers his first Easter egg hunt at Walnut Grove Park where a dog got to all the eggs first and ate the treats before the kids could get to them 😉 His family’s philosophy has always been “go with the flow” when it comes to the Midwest’s attitude about Christian holidays, and besides requesting to play finger symbols during overtly religious songs at Christmas choir concerts in elementary school, he says he’s glad he just went along with the crowd. Plus, besides Purim, there’s not a lot of revelry when it comes to the Jewish holidays. I say do what feels right – and if putting up a fuss feels right, so be it, but if letting your son hunt for colorful eggs seems like a better plan, that’s okay too.
I was raised in a pretty conservative Christian home and wasn’t allowed to participate in holidays like Halloween and was taught that Santa was not real. I remember feeling so odd when my friends talked about Halloween costumes and photos with Santa. It doesn’t bother me now, but as a child I just desperately wanted to belong rather than feeling alienated from the kids in my class.
I don’t have a lot to say since I celebrate Easter, but I do know that my Jewish friends let their kids here in London hunt for eggs (even host the parties!) as a celebration of spring. When my daughter comes home from nursery school talking about the dragon dance they learned for Chinese New Year, the sari a mom wore to celebrate Diwali, making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, or the chollah they made on Friday I don’t bat an eye – knowing that a diverse cultural experience is what I want for her. Perhaps I would feel differently if it wasn’t such a wide range of cultures that are represented?