Easter Overload

I had wanted to take a cute photo of our family on Easter Sunday, you know, just one happy family enjoying a timeless holiday together. The above picture of Max is as far as I got. Allow me to explain. I took this photo because I thought it portrayed Maxwell's sense of style. He picked out his own outfit for Easter Sunday, thinking that it would pass the fashion police without a hitch. Did he not know that I had other plans? That we would all be matching in our pastels as we stood outside the chapel doors for our photo shoot? Besides the Easter baskets, isn't this what every mother plans for on Easter day? Of course I took extra time in getting everyone ready that day. Never mind that Easter really isn't about baskets, bunnies and photos. My plan was simple. I would round up the troops after Sacrament meeting, (not an easy task when your husband is busy shaking everyone's hands after the meeting) and quickly pose in front of the chapel before whisking the kids up to their primary classes.

During Sacrament meeting I began to see that things were not going to go as smoothly as I'd hoped. Sugar, tired and kids are not an ideal combination. By the end of Sacrament meeting I had lost the battle of looking cool, calm and collected when I had to arm wrestle Max from the bench behind me while holding Lincoln on my lap. The threat of, "throwing away your chocolate Easter bunny" seemed to work and we made it through the closing prayer. However, that was Lincoln's cue to take off running down the aisle while I tried to gather our things and hold onto Eden. Keeping still for a photo-op was out of the question. I may have completed my mission after church if Lincoln hadn't decided to do his disappearance act (2nd time in 7 days). One sweep through the church grounds and 2 kids buckled in the car later, a primary leader emerged holding Lincoln by the hand. Apparently he had decided he needed another round on the spinner in the nursery.

I decided to boycott naps for the day since it was 4pm by the time we got home and the kids had had something to eat. BIG mistake. Herb and I had invited a couple of people over for Easter dinner and I'm not sure if they'll ever come back. I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon getting things ready for the dinner and straightening up the house. My kids were regulated to their room (aka time out) throughout most of it as they have a habit of getting underfoot when I'm not giving them my full attention. I am coming to the realization that like my mother, I get a little stressed-out prior to hosting an event. I like to have the house clean and I like to have a nice spread and it seems to take me longer than most people to get these things accomplished. As a result, my kids get ignored, act-up and I get irritable and snappish. A fine mood for a holy holiday.

Our guests arrived and while I was finishing the last of my preparations I thought I would let the boys draw Easter pictures on our windows with the window markers they had found in their Easter baskets that morning. No sooner had I turned my back then Max and Lincoln started a marker fight and inadvertantly swiped a marker along the sleeve of one of our guest's white jackets. Thank goodness for Tide sticks. Herb quickly ushered the boys to their bedroom and we sat down to dinner. During the blessing on the food we heard crashing sounds intercepted by Lincoln's cries and Max's yells. "Don't worry," we assured our friends, "If and when the kids are seriously injured, they'll let us know."

We enjoyed a few minutes of get-to-know-you conversation over some yummy food before our attention was diverted to several children's books being thrown through the air. My boys thought it tremendously funny to throw books at eachother's head. Thus, the cries followed by peels of laughter. Once again, Max and Lincoln are ushered back to their room, this time a little more forcefully. Of course they don't stay in there for long, what child does when there are guests to entertain? While we are finishing up our Easter dinner, Max and Lincoln are literally running circles around the dinner table and kitchen area playing chase. At this point I am ready to give in to the chaos. We apologized to our guests several times. Explaining that this really isn't the norm with our kids. I don't know whether they believed it or not, but we felt better saying it. I was reminded of when we had invited a member of our ward to family home evening a couple of months ago. He was debating whether or not to propose to his girlfriend and had come to seek some counsel. After we had put all the kids to bed he looked at us and asked sincerely, "Is it always like this around here?" Buddy, you don't even know the half of it.

Later that night, as I laid in bed reflecting on our day I came to several conclusions. 1st: Easter is not going to be a meaningful holiday for my children if they equate it with an onry mother, constant shushing and more time spent in their room than out. 2nd: I need to come to terms with the fact that I will never have the kind of children who obey at my first, second and fifth command or sit quietly and draw, read a book or heck, just watch a t.v. show while I am making preparations to host. 3rd: While I love to have people over and I love to entertain, it can't be at the expense of spending time with my kids and helping them understand what Easter is really about.

I'm sure many of you who are reading this are thinking, "duh!" but I learn best through trial and error. I really was disappointed at the end of the day that I had not made more of an effort to help my family feel the spiritual significance of Easter. Lesson learned and for any of you who have time honored traditions as to how to make this happen, I am all ears. No pun intended.