The 10 Valuable Lessons I Learned From Easter in Quarantine

Easter Sunday was definitely a lot different this year! Although we missed hugging our family, getting back to the basics in quarantine actually turned out to be a positive experience. I love Easter, but I wasn't expecting much this year. Surprisingly, though, it turned out to be one of my favorite Easters, and it will certainly be a memorable one!

I think the biggest difference this year was TIME. We had time to enjoy our family traditions, time to enjoy the holiday, and time to focus on the important things. Despite not spending the morning at church, I feel like this Easter was the most meaningful Easter we've ever had as a family.

Easter activities might have been canceled, but Easter was still very much here! Easter is about celebrating the fact that He is Risen, and that can be done anywhere. When we took away our usual Easter hustle and chaos, we were able to focus on what we were truly celebrating, and spend time together as a family!

Our Easter is always a mix of religious elements and traditions for the kids. During the week leading up to Easter, we tried to make things as normal as we possibly could. We didn't have a big egg hunt or an Easter party with friends. We didn't count down to Easter Break. But we still ended up tackling almost all of our traditions! 

Here's how we prepared for Easter in quarantine:

●We decorated the entire house for Easter, including the backyard!

●The boys enjoyed their Easter Egg Sensory Table.

●We read books about Easter.

●We took lots of Easter-themed pictures! (The baby was my most willing subject!)

●We told the Easter Bunny what the kids would like from Amazon. We heard there would probably be difficulties finding things for the baskets this year! ;)

●We never visit the Easter Bunny (we don't put the focus on the Easter Bunny and there are too many questions anyway), but we did enjoy a parade that came by our house with the Easter Bunny riding in a fire truck! Liam got to watch the parade as it turned onto our street, and again, when it came back to head into town. He was more excited about the emergency vehicles than the Easter Bunny, and after it passed, he stood in our backyard and waited for 20 minutes before he realized it wasn't coming back. I thought it was so sweet of the emergency personnel to arrange this two day parade for all the kids in our community!

●We dyed Easter Eggs, made Easter cutout sugar cookies, and decorated foam eggs. I have no pictures to share. I just set everything up, let them take the lead, and watched!

●The boys had an Easter Egg sink bath!

●Finally, it was time to sit out their Easter baskets, and get ready for the following day!

Easter Sunday arrived calmly. For the first year ever, we weren't incredibly distracted and stressed. Typically we have to rush through our Easter Basket tradition, rush to get ready, and rush to make it to church on time. This year, we didn't have anywhere to go. We were able to fully enjoy Easter morning - the reason for the season AND our Easter Basket tradition!

The kids were so excited to find the baskets that the Easter Bunny hid, and see their Easter goodies. They always act as excited about finding and looking through their siblings' baskets as their own, which I love! That morning, they took their time discovering the contents of their baskets, helping younger siblings snack and play, and expressing their gratefulness over the small gifts they received.

Here's what each of my kids got in their baskets:

(Baskets always consist of items they need mixed with a surprise gift, and minimal candy since they also get candy from grandparents. The Easter Bunny usually brings them each something to wear, something to play with, and something educational, creative, or sensory.)

Dylan (age 15)

• Adidas Slides for Summer
• Cologne
• Socks
• Magnetic Slime
• Bulk pack of gum
• Candy

Lexie (age 13)

• Leggings
• Mascara
• Lip Palette
• Lip Balm
• Bracelets
• Laser Slime
• Cupcake Slime with mix-ins
• Candy

Lily (age 8)

• 2 Barbies
• Bathing Suit
• Crocs
• Diamond Dig
• Stranger Things Amazing Slime
• Glow in the Dark Slime
• Candy

Liam (age 6)

• Bubble gun
• Blippi Shirt
• Blippi Learn Your Colors Figure & Counting Surprise Boxes
• Fryin' Flyin Donuts game
• Color Change Slime
• Candy

Coen (age 13 months)

• Sprinkle & Splash Pad
• Indestructibles Hello Farm Book
• Spike The Fine Motor Hedgehog Toy
• Romper
• Candy

We spent the next few hours just enjoying the day together. We stayed in pajamas, and snuggled. For the first time in many years, I was able to quietly reflect on the meaning of the day. Usually my attention is focused solely on keeping the little kids quiet during the church service, and I don't get much from it. That personal religious reflection was much needed!

My mom had a ham, so she made us our Easter dinner. We had ham, cheesy potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, an appetizer tray, and rolls. It was delicious, and my kids were ravenous, so we don't have anything left except a few tiny pieces of ham. She even sent homemade cream puffs, which we had to wait to eat until later! It was nice to eat a mom-cooked meal like usual!

We had a simple backyard egg hunt after we ate dinner. Grant and Dylan hid the eggs, and we all helped Liam and Coen find their eggs. Liam found 5 eggs, then happily sat down to open them, and Coen quickly learned how to pick up the eggs and run away with them!

We didn't even get dressed up for Easter. I bought Lily a gorgeous dress weeks ago, but didn't get around to buying everybody else an outfit before the quarantine began. It didn't make sense for her to get dressed up, while the rest of us wore what we already had, so we decided to put the dress aside for next Easter. (She's tiny, so it will fit!) We did get dressed in nicer clothes so we could maintain some normalcy, but this was the first year I wasn't worried about our appearance as a family. (Obviously - thank goodness for photo editing is all I have to say!)

We ended our Easter Sunday by snuggling up and watching The Ten Commandments. It's Grant's favorite movie, and he owns the special anniversary edition on blu-ray. We watch it with the kids every year on Easter! They always ask questions while they watch, and it encourages them to learn more. It's definitely a favorite Easter tradition of ours!

Celebrating Easter in quarantine really made us think about the way we do things. Previous Easters have been more about obligations and appearances, and the reason for celebrating got lost in the holiday chaos. Being forced to simplify the holiday was an eye opener for us!

I learned some valuable lessons, which I plan to carry into our Easter celebration next year:

1. Plan ahead. As in AS SOON AS EASTER STUFF APPEARS IN STORES. I never thought we would end up quarantined, and wasn't really prepared for the holiday at all. Thankfully, I was able to prioritize what was needed, and skip buying the unnecessary items. 
2. I realized how much JUNK is usually put in Easter Baskets. This year, the Easter Bunny and I put a lot of thought into the items that were going in the baskets. We will do the same thing next year.
3. Get as much done as possible before Easter week, so I can fully enjoy our Easter traditions. This year, I had the time to do so, and I realized what a difference it makes!
4. While we celebrated Easter Sunday at home,  I realized that I'm spending so much time during the service worrying about keeping the little kids quiet and trying to contain Liam that I'm not even getting anything out of the service. Grant and I just going through the motions. It's just a season in our lives, and I know things will change as our kids get older, but until then, we might have to make some changes.
5. We need to limit the amount of places we visit on Easter Sunday. We spend far too much time driving, and not enough time with the people we love. 
6. Grant should ALWAYS take a vacation day on the Monday after Easter. We always stay up far too late watching the movie, and he always has work the next day. Even though he worked from home today, we were all dragging!
7. I need to stop focusing on perfection, step back, and let my kids take the lead more. This year, I did the prep for eggs and cookies, but then stepped back and watched. I didn't even pick up my camera. I just let them have fun together, and I learned that they are very capable of making things run smoothly!
8. Get the family pictures out of the way early. My kids always grumble about taking family/sibling pictures, and they are much happier if we do them first so they don't have to stop whatever they are doing to take a picture. We did that this year, and they were much more willing to take a quick picture knowing that the rest of their day would not involve posed pictures!
9. Simplify, simplify, simplify. There is no need to do so much! Instead, just enjoy. Enjoy time spent together celebrating the holiday, and talk about WHY we are celebrating. That's exactly what we did this year, and it was especially meaningful! Hold the moments. Every single one of them. The perfect ones. The not so perfect ones. Focus on what TRULY matters. 
10. This was the first year that I didn't feel stressed and completely exhausted at the end of the day. I didn't feel stressed at all, and I didn't cry and feel disappointment like several previous Easters. Instead, I felt calm, happy, and peaceful. I was able to pinpoint exactly why - less obligations and not needing to fixate on my kids appearance and behavior. Replicating some of the elements of our Easter in quarantine is definitely a do over!

Easter 2020 will go down in the books as the most memorable Easter ever! Instead of focusing on everything we couldn't do, I chose to stay positive and focus on the fact that NOTHING could cancel Easter. Instead, I focused on my little family and the reason we were celebrating. We were all in agreement that this Easter in quarantine was one of the best!

Did you learn anything from your Easter in quarantine? Will you be making any changes next year?

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