Prime
When Easter meant weeding gardens
Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as Christians.
Easter has a bearing on almost all people of the world, because most of the knowledge that has since become the foundation for the modernity we live in today originates from Judeo-Christian background, which is based on the Gregorian calendar.
Back in the day, Easter fell on the days we were at school. I wonder why?
I hated Easter as a child because while it looked like Christmas, it was nothing like Christmas. The celebration at church was always a little lackluster and always left me underwhelmed. The hymns were not as loud and sweet as the Christmas carols, and the congregation was not as huge or as excited.
Not so pompous
In comparison to Christmas, one of the major attractions of for us children that was always missing on Easter was the sense of class that the Kampala people brought to the village church service.
All the nice cars, the opulent clothing and the fragrant perfumes were always missing on Easter and all we had in church were the same old village people with their bad shoes.
The feast on Easter afternoon was only a shadow of the one on Christmas Day.
While we ate all manner of rare food on Christmas, and by rare I mean rice and soda, on several Easters we went without the bare minimum of meat. Whether this was due to lack of money or a lack of motivation for celebration, I cannot tell. All I know is that the air around Easter was not vibrating as much as we hoped.
Time to till the land
As a matter of fact, I remember weeping with distress as my siblings and I trailed our mother on Good Friday and Easter vigil. This would never happen on Christmas Eve, for instance. While we were excused from school on Easter Monday, (who knows why it’s called Easter Monday) mother always insisted that we go back to the farm to weed the beans so that by the time we went back to school, she would no longer have the burden of weeds.
I remember wondering why Easter always happened during weeding time when there was too much urgent work to do.
As an adult, nothing much has changed on how I feel about Easter. If this was Christmas, I would most certainly be back home in Kyamakanda Village, somewhere in Kigezi, driving around the village, meeting family and long-lost friends. Isn’t it ironic then that the day that should excite us the most as Christians almost means nothing to us? Does anyone know how we got so conditioned?
How to celebrate Easter with children
Grab a few Easter baskets and take your children to a local Easter egg hunt. In fact, community events like these are great opportunities to invite friends and neighbours or even your co-parent—along. And do not forget to bring your camera! You will not want to miss the opportunity to capture the smiles on your children’s faces.
Make a traditional Easter egg hunt even more fun by adding your own Easter games, such as an egg and spoon relay, an egg toss, or an egg roll. Invite your children to create new games of their own, too. If you have children of multiple ages, let the older ones teach the younger ones how to play. Be sure to include your neighbours and make it an annual affair.
There are lots of ways you can share the Easter story with your children. You can begin simply by telling the story from your heart. Then, if you wish, you can also read the story together directly out of the Bible. Additional ways of sharing the Easter story include reading children’s books about Easter and watching an Easter movie together. In time these can become traditions you will look forward to sharing again each year. -thespruce.com
