Holidays are hard. I know social media and TV make them seem so dreamy and carefree but let’s be real. That mess is HARD.
Especially when you have more than one kid. I don’t know about you, but I always feel this intense pressure to create the holiday magic. And with Easter here, I’m back at it again.
I loved holidays as a kid. No matter what else was going on around me, I always felt this kind of magic during the holidays. And I loved it. I knew when I got older that I wanted to create that for my kids. I wanted them to have beautiful memories to look back on one day and say, “my parents made every holiday special.”
But it is exhausting! And with five different kids on different schedules and with different wake windows, making the magic happen is hard work. I have to fit things in around their sleep and around their playtime and school. I have to stay up late and sneak away when I know none of them will miss me or come looking for me because otherwise I’d never get things done or they would lose that holiday magic wonder.
It definitely feels harder as the kids get older too. None of my kids have grown out of the Santa, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy phase, d as hard as it can be, I’m glad for it. I want them to be kids for as long as possible and hold onto that magic.
As they get older, though, it’s harder to make it all happen without them realizing it’s me. I’ve had to learn to be extra sneaky. Take this Easter, for example. I needed to get Easter baskets and fillers, but I had to take three of the kids with me while I went shopping. A friend tagged along, and we tag teamed keeping the Easter gifts hidden. She took the stuff home for me and brought it over another day. It worked out well. But it wasn’t easy.
I love making the magic happen for my babies. t’s one of my big parenting joys. I do wish, though, that there wasn’t this pressure to do it perfectly. Social media has made it so hard to be a real parent because it creates pressure to be the perfect parent. But perfect doesn’t exist. Kids don’t need perfect parents–they need present parents who try. And that’s what I do. I try my best. Despite budgets and economic issues. Despite logistical craziness. I always try, and I always make something beautiful happen for my kids. It’s never perfect. There’s often lots of swearing and exhaustion leading up to it. But in the end, all that matters are the smiles on my babies’ faces and the memories they’re making.
I’m curious what traditions other people have. For Easter, we do baskets and an egg hunt with the plastic candy-filled eggs. Then we do a ham lunch/dinner and relax. Some years, we color boiled eggs (not this year with $8 eggs!). Some years we go to local egg hunts at one of the family farms. I’d love to hear what some other traditions are! Leave me some comments. I’m always looking for new ideas! What do you do to make the magic happen?
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