Shirlee Smith | Happy Easter

Mom said that Easter, for her, was all about getting her preschoolers pretty clothes for church on that important day. Pretty clothes, she figured, would cost her several weeks’ pay but the expenditure was a necessity.

Ms Single Mom has a job that pays the minimum wage but she believes her credit card makes up the difference because what expenditures her cash doesn’t cover VISA will kick in.

My neighbor’s kid said that an egg hunt means he not only gets to keep the decorated eggs he finds at the annual event at the park but his Dad pays him for every egg he finds.

The cousins who invite the family for the big day of Honey Ham with the trimmings say they’d like to forget about all the cooking and greedy family members but the whole thing is a tradition they can’t break away from.

Oh, yes, the baskets with bows, streaming ribbons, stuffed bunnies, a few fake soft feathery yellow chicks, candy, and a toy help make Easter Sunday a worthy celebration.

I think it was my mother who always reminded family members, maybe it was for Christmas but it certainly applies to what’s happened to Easter – Jesus is the reason for the season.

I asked Ms Single Mom about the clothes, the church and the season.

While seemingly annoyed with me for bringing what she called “religion” into the now unpleasant conversation. she said her kids had learned Bible verses for the Easter program but insisted they had to look “adorable” to participate.

And then she added, with a flair (I guess to put me in my place), that her little girls would be having their hair done by her braider even though she bought sun hats for them to wear.

I begged off with that comedian phrase, delivered with my hands up in submission, “I’m just askin’ “

Dad, the neighbor, says he isn’t into the “churchy” stuff and he doesn’t want to bore his kid with all the stuff his parents put him through, so the egg hunt and the money are his way of diverting attention away from what is traditional “junk.”

The cousins chuckled when I asked about the “reason for the season” and the two main chiefs said that once everyone sat down to the large dining room table a blessing for the food was offered.

“Lord, we thank You for this bountiful blessing we are about to receive and praise You for Your. . . .” and chief #1 went on with this blessing for a full minute.

Chief #2 said that everyone at the table had to say a verse from the Bible; even the young children.

Well, I think I’m left to appreciate the fact that real bunnies and baby chicks didn’t emerge as Easter’s meaning.

Maybe I just asked the wrong folks about this. I know there must be some parents out there, not just the churchgoers, who are passing down to their offspring the true reason for the season.