I’m hoping DD and SIL aren’t working on Easter, but it’s a long shot. We have had lamb, with a great rub and grilled for the last few years and it’s really delicious. But I have a 10 pound turkey in my freezer so I think Easter dinner will be turkey. If they are working, I’ll get some lamb chops for DH and me to have!
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This thread makes me so happy that Easter is one holiday I let go of. I just hate hosting and doing holidays (except Halloween – I enjoy Halloween). I might make an Easter basket for the grown kids, but I’m not feeling like that is a must this year. Maybe we’ll have some deviled eggs or egg salad, but that’s it! Wheeeeeeee!
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I gave up making Easter basket many moons ago – I get one high quality chocolate bunny for each adult and everyone is happy!
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I only ever did it for my 2 kids and it involved things like flip flops and bubbles and a little candy. Maybe some hair ties. Nothing too fancy. I’d probably skip the hair ties this time – maybe throw in some earrings, but I’m not even sure when I last did one so probably not going to happen. I’ll get some Easter candy and call it done!
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We shipped high end chocolates to our D and I did buy some fun goodies for my niece who will be with us.
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I still make an Easter Basket for D2 since she lives close. I put in her favorite candy and a couple of gift cards. I sent D1 a couple of gift cards and GD’s present from us has already arrived in CT.
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Just the two of us this year; family is far away, and we have a big trip coming up mid-month. Happy to be making just a few deviled eggs instead of a dozen or more, though! With asparagus, new potatoes, ham, rolls, and lemon squares. The Easter Bunny will bring dark chocolate, Reese’s eggs, and jelly beans for my husband, who will share 
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This is an eating week. One Wed and Thurs I’ll do Passover at my friends’ house, and they do Kosher for Passover so we aren’t allowed to bring any food. One of her other friends brings wine but since I don’t drink I just go empty handed. Her daughter is gluten free, but a great baker, so does all the dessert baking too.
Then on Sunday I’ll go to my sister’s friend’s house, where another great cook (who does like to host all the holidays) will make something great and a lamb cake and another cake. It’s a wild house with 3 of the biggest cats you’ve ever seen who perch on the top of the cabinets that are really HIGH up which is even more strange as these are the shortest people ever so the cats are three feet higher than them. Everyone climbs on the counter - cats, people, an enormous dog who will steal from the counter if not watched carefully.
There will be jelly beans to make me happy.
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Related to a few discussion points earlier - First, Hosting - I’m trying to figure out how to move this away from my mom’s house. She hosts for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Easter. It’s never more than 10 of us, and she always assigns my sister and I something to bring, but she’s doing most of the work. My sister has picked up Christmas Eve dinner. I’d be happy to take one on too, but the problem is that I don’t have enough seats. Both my mom and sister have large kitchen tables and dining room tables. I’ve got one small table that can fit six, if we squish. I have six chairs. I could set up a folding table and get some folding chairs, which I’ve suggested, but my mom just says “why do all that when I have the room”. Which she does. Plus The Things. (She has special Christmas dishes, as well as at least serving platters that are Thanksgiving and Easter themed.) She loves the tradition of having these things at her house - I think it’s part of why she’s still in the big house. I don’t want to take away the joy, but I also see that it’s more strain on her than it’s been in the past, and some things just aren’t going well anymore. Our Thanksgiving turkey was barely cooked and it just… wasn’t good. Not that I know how to make an amazing turkey, but I’m 51, shouldn’t I be taking on SOME of this mantle by now? Any suggestions for what I can do to try to make this easier for her (she got so anxious and upset on Thanksgiving when the turkey wasn’t cooking - turns out one of the burners in the oven was busted - but it pretty much ruined the day for her)? I keep offering to make or bring something - I made multiple offers for Easter for side dishes at least, but she didn’t want any of those. She asked me to bring a dessert, and I will, but I wish I could do more to make this easier for her. It’s a lot of work.
Then second thing - Easter Baskets. My boys are freshman and senior in college. I mailed packages to them to constitute their Easter Basket (a gift bag in a box, not an actual basket). We never did candy in the baskets growing up - it was always art supplies, or toys to use outdoors. I tried to make it about creativity and nature and appreciating beauty. Not because I don’t like a good chocolate bunny, I do, but I have a not healthy relationship with candy and sweets based a lot on how I grew up and what was normal in the house and I just really wanted to not go that route. That said, this year both boys got some fun or silly things and also got some food. One doesn’t eat candy, one does, so the one who does got a little chocolate bunny and some eggs. Both got turkey jerky and their favorite fancy granola bars and packages of fancy nuts. The one who doesn’t eat candy also got some Gu since he’s a runner. Not the most exciting, but they’ll know I’m thinking of them.
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Suggestions for your mom.
- Set up a scenario where either you or your sister is hosting for ONE big occasion and mom is a contributing guest. At that occasion point out how she is still helpful, how you “enjoy” hosting too, how fun it can be to be at different homes.
- We have never let not enough table space dictate how we eat. We have done where we set the food out buffet style and I’ll say “eat wherever you like! Some go to the dining table, some eat around the coffee table in the living room, some sit on the sun porch, if nice some go outside. It’s ok for us all to NOT be sitting at the same table.
- Have you had a real sit down chat with mom about sharing the home hosting load? Talking about it might reveal that she feels obligated or that she will feel like if she doesn’t host she is getting old, or she might feel like there is no way out of it! Talk about it. In person.
Regarding Easter baskets - lol, I’m still making “Easter Baskets” for my kids and their spouses and my kids are 37, 33 and 28. They are local enough that they will all be here for Easter. We have a tradition since they were born of hiding the Easter baskets. H and I hide them. It’s a competition to see which kid finds theirs last. There are no obligations for stuff in the baskets but I still have fun filling them - giving gifts to my kids is a love language of mine - but the fillings have changed! Instead of candy I may give interesting condiments (specialty hot sauce, jams, spices). I will put small gift cards. New potholders. A local tshirt. A vintage item found at an estate sale (my kids all love secondhand).
I even have fun with the “basket” - this year I got a these cute very roomy Fiskar gardening caddies for 2 households who garden. An empty pot for plants. A plastic lazy Susan for their refrigerator or cupboards. HomeGoods is my best friend. 
I know this is overboard. But as long as it’s still fun and not a burden we will do it. They are all career adults but like their parents they love tradition and family competitions!
This is the garden caddy - price went up a dollar or two since i ordered!
https://a.co/d/0ie20StM
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Thank you for this. I may see if I can “take” Thanksgiving this year. I was going to try to do it on the road (get an AirBnB between where my older son will be working and younger will be at college, order relevant food from the grocery store) and bring my mom, since I expect my sister and her family will be at her in laws. But for a lot of reasons I’m liking that idea less. So since it will be very small, potentially only four of us, maybe I offer to do it at my house this year.
Another suggestion, assuming you live close enough, is to maybe go over to her place and set tables, etc. the day before, or early the day of. Or to insist she sit down and relax while others clean up.
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I can totally do this - I live less than five miles away. She likes to have the table set a few days ahead of time, but no reason I can’t come in the week of whatever meal and do that some night after work. And although we don’t do much cooking, my sister and I do all the cleaning. I bring in the dishes and put away the leftovers and dry the things in the drying rack. My sister washes the dishes and loads the dishwasher and drying rack. We’ve had these jobs for 35 years now, never to change.
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Well, I wasn’t sure to post here or in “Say it Here” thread, buuut the title includes whining so here goes.
DH has had a broken toe for a long time (rebroke it about 9 months after having a pin in it from first break). Arthritus is making it worse. About 5 months ago he couldn’t wear very many shoes… needs appointment, needs xray appointment, needs a pin. Simple surgury so they can fit him in “pretty quickly” instead of the usual 3 month delay we are becoming used to. So he takes the first available… the Friday before Easter! The Day our DS/D-inlaw and almost 2yearold granddaughter show up to spend the Easter weekend. (Daughter is coming too, but she is not relevant to this whine.) 
REALLY? Waiting one more week after 5 months of not getting it fixed is impossible? REALLY? You are going to be no help at all for setting up to have company, to cook nor to chase granddaughter. REALLY? it couldn’t wait? Sometimes I really don’t think he thinks. But I am excited to have everyone here for Easter, it was a big family time when I was growing up. Now we are all moved away and we are the oldest generation left and it is a party of 5 not 50, but I am grateful for them coming. By the way, having ham, because they will be here a bit and leftovers are good (but it is a much smaller ham than usual; I, too, just finished the hambone/bean soup from Xmas).
I hope everyone enjoys whatever they are able to do. There are worse ways to come together.
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Re: Easter baskets, I finished the ones I made up for GD and GS. I used the small pastel tote bags from Trader Joes rather than actual baskets. Each child got a spring outfit and Babiator sunglasses as well as some fun toys. GD doesn’t like chocolate (!) or most sweets so I threw some packets of gummy candies (which she does like) in hers as well as a small package of Peeps (we will see about that). No candy for GS yet, at 8 months. I did get him a teething ring.
I did buy chocolate bunnies for all of the adults. I do that every year.
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We will celebrate Easter with DD and SIL on Saturday with a Turkey, scalloped potatoes, and asparagus.
I’ll get lamb chops for DH and me for Sunday…if I can find them!
And a bumbleberry pie.
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My sister mentioned the other day that she’d probably have brunch at her house. My house seems to be the de facto spot for Christmas, so having a holiday anywhere else is fine by me.
When I was a kid, it was a big Easter dinner. Now we do a brunch, and everyone brings something. #2D is making mini cinnamon rolls. H is on a GLP-1, so my usual breakfast casserole is probably out. Maybe ham…
The absolute worst IG stuff has to be the “Easter” food creations. I’ve seen cut donuts used as the tomb, with donut holes as the stone, deviled eggs reimagined as bunnies, Brie or Boursin used as the rear of a bunny, so much, well, horror. Oh. The latest is hot cross buns, but hollow like the tomb. I’m channeling my mom - “sacrilegious!”
I still have my Easter basket. Growing up, there were 5 of us so the parents hid the baskets. As we grew up, it became increasingly difficult to find them. I did all the baskets for the girls. The traditional candy and maybe a pair of socks or a lip gloss, but none of the big extravaganzas with summer clothes and whatnot. Since they’re both out of the house, I don’t do them any longer. I put my creative mind to work with Christmas stockings.
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And yuck, too, when food gets handled and touched so much with who knows when washed hands to make these arrangements!
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I’m turned off enough by the chunks of butter that look like lambs…. (I don’t want my butter to mimic an animal) let alone to eat food mimicking a tomb! 
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Anyone else like to check out the Washington Post Peeps contest displays?
ETA - I still have the baskets I used for my son’s Easter baskets, but I probably stopped doing them regularly when they went away to college. If they were going to be here on Easter morning I’d probably be inclined to do a little something for anyone here, but nobody will be with us this year.
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