Remember how much fun Easter was when we were kids?
The shopping trip to buy the outfit; choosing the just
right basket; selecting the chocolate bunnies, rabbits and eggs; dying the
eggs. It was quite an occasion.
As kids, we always want what we don't have, and I always wanted a "ready-made" dress. But since mother was an excellent seamstress, she sewed our clothes. Fancy little taffeta, organza or dotted Swiss numbers with bows and lace.
And on Easter morning my sister and I always looked something like this, decked out and ready for church:
Since it always seemed to be cold on Easter, mother made us spring dusters, like the one below:
Now I believe dusters are back in style.
We were outfitted with little hats, gloves, purses, socks and of course, the black patent leather shoes, which became our "Sunday shoes" only.
Once year, my little hat fell off my head during church services when I stretched and leaned my head back. I was so embarrassed!
There usually was much discussion, and whining on my part, about Easter baskets. Mother was adamant that we would reuse baskets from previous years, but I always wanted to buy a new one that was already packed full of chocolate bunnies, foil wrapped eggs and a fuzzy stuffed bunny; one that was wrapped in cellophane and tied with a big bow.
A few years she relented and let me have my way.
Saturday night Easter egg coloring was a special time as my sister and I had selected the dyes that would give us the perfect color. It didn't always turn out that way. And remember those little cut-out transfers that were supposed to make the perfect image on your egg? They never seemed to work just right.
I once had a chalk bunny that looked a lot like this one. In fact I still have it but parts of it have crumbled over time.
The big egg hunt occurred at my grandmother's house, where the family gathered for a huge feast. I remember the kids having to stay inside and promise not to peek while a few lucky adults hid the dozens of eggs each of us had brought in our baskets.
It seemed all the eggs were never found and I recall some of us returning to our grandmother's house several days after Easter to search the high grass for unfound eggs. If we found them we ate them! Can you imagine doing that, or allowing children to do that, today?
Ah, the Easter cake. I don't recall ever having a lamb cake; ours were always white cakes with the coconut frosting dyed green and jelly beans placed on top.
Are Easter Seals still around? Haven't heard of them in years.
What do you remember about Easter when you were a child?
