Holidays are a big deal at my house.
While raising our three daughters, my wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed Halloween costumes, visits from the Easter Bunny, and Valentine’s Day parties – and we even let the kids join in most of the time. Seriously, though, now that our girls are teenagers, some of the holiday magic might be slightly diminished, but we still try our best to get them excited about celebrating, usually by involving cash.
I think I inherited my enthusiasm for holidays from my parents. Some of the best times of my childhood were the grand Easter celebrations with my mom, dad and big brother – when he wasn’t sitting on my head. There were always Easter baskets full of candy and small toys that we managed to destroy by noon. Then we attended church together in our chocolate-soiled finery, followed by an Easter lunch featuring a delicious baked ham – since turkey is apparently on the cancel culture hit list every spring. And I still can’t catch a whiff of vinegar without reminiscing about dyeing boiled eggs (and our fingers) with those little PAAS tablets that look like miniature SweeTARTS (Warning! They don’t taste so good!)
