Making It Special...or Family Traditions

      In a world that seems insistent on shrinking the gap between the wonder and freedom of childhood, and the ever pressing indoctrination toward the
 “teenage baby”,  parents of today, must work even harder to preserve for their children, a world where innocence is revered, and wholesome, joyful activities abound.

     Over the years I have found, that Family Traditions are a very important part of creating for your children delightful experiences that a child will come to expect each year, and that will remain with them as they become parents themselves.  There is a sense of security that a child feels, knowing that each season has it’s special feasts, and each holiday, a continuity that tells them life is good, and love surrounds them.

One of our Family traditions was the gift of a painted wooden egg that each child received each Easter.  Not everyone celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, as Christians do,  but most people celebrate Easter in some way, if only as a Rite of Spring.

    Every spring, I would buy wooden eggs, enough for each one of my children.  At night after all the children were in bed, I would get out my paints, and create for each one a special “personalized” egg just for them.  It might have a picture of their favorite doll or teddy bear, a pony or a girl flying a kite, lambs or ducklings, depending on who was to be the recipient of the special egg.
The possibilities are endless, and even if you don’t have artistic talent, you can create a lovely egg using paint and stickers.

Seri's egg with her pony and sheltie.

Wooden Easter eggs painted for our children.

    On Easter Sunday morning, after church, we would have our Egg hunt for the Special Wooden Eggs.   I would make a small picture of what the egg looked like on paper, and each child was given the image of their egg.  Then they would rush out joyfully seeking their own Special Egg.  Of course, the baby child would find their egg in the grass, or near the base of a tree, while the older child had to actually search high and low to find their prize.

For those who don’t feed their children on candy, and sugar, this is a great way to have an Easter Egg Hunt, without all the mess, and hyperactivity.  We did both.  Later in the week we had a candy egg hunt using Herseys chocolate eggs.  Each child had a certain color foil that was their color, and it was always exciting, even for those in their early teens.

                       
For those of you who would like to begin this Family Tradition, Elves and Angels is now selling beautiful hardwood eggs.  We have both oval eggs, and eggs with a flat bottom, which are perfect for creating painted eggs, as a keepsake.

Some of Suzanne's Eggs from her childhood

     Some of our children still have their childhood Wooden Eggs, and get them out every year at Easter to display in their homes.  Some of our daughters, carry on the “Painted Egg Tradition” with their own children, and now a real Family Tradition has been created.
Maybe generations from now, there will be Great Grandchildren receiving
Painted Wooden eggs to celebrate Easter, and the coming of Spring!

Some of Priscilla's eggs made for her children, and the pink one on the right from her Mama.


Remember, don’t put it off.  A child is a child for only a few years, and the seeds a Mother plants in her child’s heart, can grow and become an oasis, that will nurture them all through their life.  It may give them strength in times of sadness of suffering, or even lead a child home who get lost along the path of life.   It’s just a little thing,... but it’s the Little things, that make life special.

Some Easter Eggs that Suzanne made for her daughters Hannah and Kaylah.

 

by Susan Smalley 

for Elves and Angels.