Both Pam and I have fond memories of our childhood Easter celebrations. Neither of us are particularly religious anymore, but the family celebrations associated with Easter still bring me back to the days of my youth.
So as parents, we strive to reproduce these experiences for our children. Saturday morning was spent at a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. On Sunday, we had our own hunt at home followed by a scavenger hunt and an egg dying session. My children spent the weekend hopped up on candy, running around squirting each other with their new squirt guns in their new flip flops.
As a parent, I have mixed feelings about Easter (and Halloween for that matter). I don’t want to be a downer, never allowing my kids to have any fun. But I also don’t want them to be unhealthy.
Unfortunately for me, Easter didn’t end on Sunday. There’s still tons of junk food around my house–all of it calling my name. I haven’t been perfect, but I’ve been very mindful about what I’m eating. I’m logging my food the best I can and this week is a big running week for me. I should be fine.
But I still spend a lot more time thinking about food than I want to. I’ve been living this lifestyle for a long time now. I don’t want to have to struggle with these decisions any more. I just want them to come naturally. I don’t want to walk past that Easter basket and feel it’s pull. I just want to walk past it and keep on going.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Absolutely not pushing religion on you or anyone, but since the focus of Easter at our home is Christ, the candy and stuff comes second. As my boys get older, it’s gotten easier (they’re 8, 5 and 17 months, and the older 2 clearly “get” what the point of the holiday is all about, it’s the most important day of the year for us.) Maybe try stressing the family aspect, if you’re not comfortable talking about the true reason behind the holiday?
Easter can be fun without the candy. I purposefully bought little candy for my boys. They had way more fun with the scavenger hunt of eggs with clues leading them to their basket and the candy was a side note. My nearly 7 year old kept telling me how fun the hunt was. Some of their eggs contained coins or a dollar (which is still a lot of money to them, thankfully). As much as I love candy filled easter memories, I’m trying to show my kids how to enjoy holidays without the candy over load. Halloween is a tricky one though. They love going trick or treating and showing off their costumes…but I think it would be more fun to have a costume party and have home baked treats instead of HFCS filled low quality candy.
Maybe in the future pick out one or two really high quality candy items (teach your kids to have discerning tastes!) so that you don’t have mounds of jellybeans hanging around after the fact.
One of the advantages to not working at home is that you can take all that leftover candy to work and put it out for your co-workers, particularly those without kids!
And my daughter’s favorite Easter surprises this year were her new Cinderella toothbrush and Hannah Montana toothpaste
WRT your kids and halloween/easter candy… I think you’ve got it right, once in a while candy is a treat, it’s the habit that’s unhealthy. Let them be kids but make sure when they ask why dad has so much energy, its because he eats well!
I don’t have kids, and I still struggle with this. I gave up candy for lent (and did really well), but I bought some on-sale easter candy and have not been as mindful as I like about it. I need to remember to not buy any more candy after I finish this stuff — the key for me is definitely keeping it out of the house! thankfully, my boyfriend likes oreos way more than candy, and I’m not a big oreo person.
I hate to break the news to you, but I have lost and kept off 60 lbs for 9 years and it doesn’t get any easier. The only way I keep it off is to be mindful of everything I eat and to exercise everyday. I don’t write it down anymore, but it is constantly on my mind. I do not want to go back to the way I was! Maybe it will be different for you. I hope so! But, thinking about it all the time is better than gaining weight. My weight used to yo-yo all the time. Not anymore.
Take anything commercially wrapped and donate it to your local hospital. Children’s ward, or just to the ER – people don’t always have time to grab a snack before setting off, and some donated snacks lying around can make all the difference when you’re stuck waiting.
I’ve donated in the past, and I’ve also been in the position of scrounging for some food when stuck with my 9mo son (couldn’t even leave him to go to a cafeteria), and very much appreciated donations.
I say only the commercially wrapped items, b/c there are probably health and safety issues with a hospital accepting home made foods.