My Childhood Easter Memories

As we prepare our English home for Easter Sunday, I can not help thinking about my happy childhood memories of Easters growing up in USA. My parents would create a Easter Sunday that was filled with hunting for colourful eggs, pastel coloured candy, yummy food and special gifts to prepare for Spring days.

The preparation for Easter Sunday would happen a couple days before when my mother would hard boil one or two dozen white eggs. Once the eggs were cooled, we would be allowed to use permanent markers to decorate the eggs. I always loved drawing on the eggs bunnies or an Easter basket filled with eggs. We would decorate eggs for each other and put the recipients name on it. I enjoyed seeing what my Dad and siblings would draw. Once we were finished drawing on an egg it was put in a bowl of colour dye. Clear glass bowls filled with colours of the rainbow. Using a metal spoon to roll the egg in the bowl to dye the egg evenly with colour. Sometimes we would dip half the egg in one colour and then again in a different colour to create multiple coloured dyed eggs or stripes. Sometimes our fingers would get dyed too but that was part of the fun. Decorated eggs safely back in the egg carton would be put in the refrigerator ready for the Easter Bunny's visit. 

My mother would decorate the living room and dining room with pastel coloured egg decorations or glass bunnies. The formal dishes and silverware was put on the table in preparation for Easter breakfast. We would choose our wooden basket in preparation for the Easter Bunny's visit. 

On Easter morning, we would wake up to discover our Easter basket filled with pastel coloured M&Ms, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. We would also often discover a new pair of shoes from my parents. A pair of Salt Water Sandals or white Keds shoes. My little brother may get a new pair of Converse high tops. 

Once a few pieces of candy was sneaked from our Easter baskets, it was time for an Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny during the night would hide our decorated hard boiled eggs in the living room, dining room and kitchen. We would be given a number of eggs to find per person and then it was time to search. We would look high and low. Most of the eggs would be reachable but couple eggs would need help from Dad. They would be balancing on tops of wall art or behind sofa cushions or on top of books. The Easter bunny was very clever. Part of the excitement was looking at the eggs designs that each other created. My dad would help us find the last couple eggs before breakfast. Except one year when the last remaining egg could not be found no matter how hard we searched. We forgot about the lonely egg until weeks later when our dog started acting strange in the living room. He had found the missing egg. 

We would have a yummy Easter breakfast of eggs, bacon, pastries, cut fruit, juice and maybe a few jelly beans. In the afternoon, we would go to Maternal Grandparents' home for searching for plastic Easter eggs throughout the house. When we were little the eggs would be filled with plastic toys and sweets but when we got older finding dollar bills were our favourite discovery. 

These days I am creating new Easter memories with my children. They definitely love the Cadbury chocolate eggs. My daughter is old enough this year to start decorating eggs with pens. The same coloured dye that I used growing up was sent from the USA for my daughter to use. Little Brother loves pens at the moment but also loves to draw on the floor, table, doors and toys so is being given very limited access to pens at the moment. I have lots of plastic eggs that will be hidden for Easter morning. I am sure these eggs will be hidden repeating by my daughter be discovered over and over again throughout the next couple months. 

I will follow the tradition of a Easter basket filled with pastel M&Ms and Hershey kisses sent from my mother from the USA. Also new Easter dishes, socks and books from Grandparents. In preparation for Spring, my daughter is getting some Sun Jellies. I hope your Easter Sunday is filled with lots of love and family fun.