There is nothing better than seeing...really experiencing..holidays through the eyes of a little one. And the first year doesn't really count.
(bunny pancakes?? really?? u rock dad.) I mean, the first year COUNTS...but throw a set of bunny ears/santa hat/pumpkin onesie on any four month old and if you're lucky they'll not cry/fuss/squirm long enough for the obligatory "My First Holiday" photo.
But the truth is such.
Mom is sleep deprived. Dad is "sleep deprived" (although how one can be sleep deprived when one would start the day by asking 'how was his night?' is a mystery to me. really? really? really...but that is for another post) and well let's be honest...the little bean doesn't know 3am on a Tuesday from 3pm on a Saturday most of the year...
(a cookie?? in the morning?? u rock mom) But Year Two...unbelievably precious. We talked a lot about what to do for the special bunny day. All upcoming special days really. We have talked more this year about creating traditions than ever before. It wasn't a conversation we had often as a twosome...15 years as a twosome...but when you go and plus one...well, its a game changer. How will he describe his holidays to his kids?
( I can get it, I can get it!) Back to Easter. What should we do? A basket? A present? A Church service? A Brunch out? A walk through the park? Chocolate was definitely not on the table- Little has MORE than enough energy already...adding chocolate would bring an element I was not prepared to experience yet. He is a Christmas-ish baby so when he turned one this year we already decided that we would like to instill the value that Christmas was about others and his Birthday could be about him. Where does that leave the Bunny holiday? (Note: we believe he is a bit too young to begin explaining the religious meaning behind the holiday(s). That will be a parenting Q & A I am certain will not be far off. In the interim, we will be interpreting holidays through the big blue eyes of a wee one...hence the Bunny holiday)
(in my shoe Dad, really?) For us...this year....it meant dollar store plastic eggs filled with cheerios and animal crackers around the house. It meant lifting him up to grab the eggs off the mantle or picture frame. Watching his eyes light up bigger than I swear I have ever seen (I think I say that every day now) when he found the treat inside. It meant bunny pancakes and vanilla yogurt for breakfast. It meant a family lunch of sushi and gelato with his sweet sweet Auntie. (complete with darth vader and elmo eggs for her newphew) It meant dinner with close friends. It meant speaker phone with gramma's and papa's and nonna's and nonno's. And at the end of the day... to Little....it was just another Sunday.
I'm learning that traditions are about doing what may not always be considered traditional. Or it may.
I'm learning that traditions may not mean doing what I did as a child. Or it may.
I'm learning that traditions are about not making my
house/food/costume/presents/insert anything here Martha Stewart perfect.
I've learned that traditions in the sixtyone45 House are going to about getting said Little to give us that
traditional make-my-insides-mushy smile.
