Post Easter Post.

Easter has been and gone for another year. Good Friday Eve I found myself at the Coles chocolate aisle just as school broke up for the holidays. There were children (and adults) everywhere getting their last minute chocolate flavoured eggs and bunnies.

Last year we had a not-so quiet Easter at home with a colicky baby. The year before we were on our way home from our New Zealand honeymoon. The year before that we went back to my home town and this year did that again.

Easter always holds a special significance for me as I used to go on an Easter Camp, and when I was 15 I took the true meaning of easter into my heart and became a Christian. Now, over ten years later, I married a Christian man, and we have a son - so this year, funnily enough being Luke's second easter, but one which I wanted to reflect on so much more than last year, I had to ask myself, what will Easter mean for us?

I love chocolate, don't get me wrong. In fact, I love it a bit too much. Although Hendrik & I didn't really want to buy any for a number of reasons. We came home with an abundance of assorted shaped chocolates filled in what was once a carton of beer. The problem with this is that it is three peoples worth of easter eggs, and that being Luke not really eating chocolate because of only being one, and also because he doesn't really like it. His father wouldn't be a chocoholic, yet me, I could eat it all day every day, which is a problem. For this reason, I like to not have chocolate in the house because I stumble on the temptation which jeopardises my getting fit and healthy thing I'm trying to get going.

There was only one option for church in my home town on Easter Sunday, and that was a dawn service at 6:30am. I thought that it probably wouldn't suit with Luke so I didn't push it. Yet 5:30am Luke was ready for the day. We went to church.

After Church, I sat Hendrik and Luke on the bed and handed them each a smaller-than-the-larger-size Cadbury hollow easter egg. Luke held it in his hand, smiled and made excited noises. I explained to them that I wasn't going to buy them an easter egg, but I wanted to as a symbolic thing, the symbolism being the empty tomb on Easter Sunday after Jesus rose from the dead. I remember my Gran telling me this many years ago. Luke proceeded to chew the foil off the egg, which followed by Hendrik holding him upside down as I stuck my fingers in his mouth to get any loose bits that hadn't been swallowed.

I believe that kids are very kinaesthetic and visual. I think that by making this connection each year is something that he will remember. I don't believe that I am brain washing my child, but I do believe that it is my duty as a Christian parent to at least give my son the opportunity to learn about his parents faith, that I hope and pray he will also follow when he gets old enough to make these choices. There is a deeper meaning to Easter, and I think that it's okay for kids to know it - even if they don't want to believe in it.

Meanwhile, I'll leave the spoiling of the big chocolate bunnies to the grandparents!