Here's How To Recapture Some Of That Easter Excitement With Your Teens

I hated Easter when I was a kid because we had to go to church, it was still really cold where we lived and I couldn’t even rock a new spring dress and jelly shoes, and my parents only let us have two pieces of candy from our basket each day. It sucked, to say the least. Also, I hate ham and that’s what we had and we were expected to finish out plates.

When I had kids I decided to do Easter differently and I started to love it. The holiday is so much better now that I’ve adjusted it to my liking.

My ex-husband had a great tradition from his childhood we did with our kids: You hide jelly beans all around the house and the kids come down first thing in the morning to find them. Also, we let them have as much candy as they wanted, so that definitely added to the enjoyment.

But just like a lot of other holidays, once your kids reach the teen years, Easter loses a little bit of its luster, which makes me want to cry in the corner. It seems like my teens don’t care about the day that leaves me so nostalgic; I’d give anything to hear those six tiny feet come in my room before the sun comes up so they can find the jelly beans.

I figured out a few things to do to make Easter with teens feel celebratory (and fill the void in my soul) and get my kids involved.

Hide Money In Easter Eggs

But here’s the catch: Don’t tell them there’s money in those eggs. I realize this only works for the first year but it will be worth it. I did this for the first time last year and my kids stuck their noses up at finding eggs.

Then, my daughter took pity on me and started collecting a few. When she opened them and saw there was money stuffed inside, her brothers quickly changed their tune, and let’s just say I’m lucky no one got hurt.

I also don’t put money in every one. I stagger in their favorite candy too — makes it more interesting.

Get Takeout

I don’t want to cook a big Easter dinner. I just don’t. We all love pizza or Chinese food, so that’s what I order since so many restaurants are open on Easter. I don’t want to get dressed up and go anywhere to enjoy it.

However, I do like setting a pretty table and sitting down with my kids to eat it. This makes me happy. We order it early and I get a little extra so there’s always plenty of leftovers for us to snack on in front of the television later. This way, I get two quality chunks of time with my babies.

Keep Doing The Easter Baskets

Even if they act like they don’t care about it, I think they do. I do one large basket for all of my kids and I include their favorite candy, and a few other things like a small stuffed bunny for each of them.

Yes, they act like they don’t want a toy. The truth is, getting a tiny stuffed animal for my kids on Easter has always made them happy. It reminds them of when they were younger and even if they don’t admit it, I’m sure they still sleep with one or two.

Easter isn’t Christmas 2.0 by any means — I don’t want to go overboard. I do that on Christmas and once a year is enough. So, I don’t buy a lot, but I always tuck some small things in my kids’ Easter basket, like face masks since we all love a nice charcoal mask. I started doing this a few years ago, and it’s been another tradition we always look forward to.

Do Some Of The Things You Used To Do When They Were Little

I still hide the jelly beans for them. On the plus side, I can do it in the morning before they wake up — and I don’t have to do it in the predawn hours, because they no longer storm in and interrupt a delicious sleep. I still buy the same candy I did when they were little, and I already mentioned the stuffed animal thing.

I refuse to make Easter into another holiday where my kids get new clothes, technology accessories, or other expensive items. I didn’t do this when they were little and I’m not going to start now just because they are older — weaving the money into the day and a few small things is enough.

Keeping it simple and implementing some of our old traditions honestly makes me and my kids pretty happy.

More importantly, we all enjoy the day … and I get to see glimpses of their younger selves when they grab for their stuffed animal and get excited about finding an egg. And as any parent of teens knows, that’s the best part of all.