Easter Smiles

It was a successful Easter if one was to judge by the amount of chocolate consumed by the three monkeys. But as always, there were several moments that brought smiles and laughs to the adults as well.

When Devlin and Ceilidh woke up to find filled Easter baskets on the kitchen table, alongside the not-yet-hidden eggs, the following conversation was overheard:

"Look, the Easter bunny came and coloured the eggs we made!"

"But he forgot to hide them! Will he come back? Even though it's raining?" wondered Ceilidh.

"Well, he'll have to use the 'brella to come and hide the eggs," stated Aisling.

At church, upon discovering that communion was to be part of the Easter service, Aisling ran into the sanctuary, and exclaimed in that oh-so-loud voice that carries, "Uncle Billy! Uncle Billy, we're having bread and grape juice!"

And later, when depositing her offering into the offering plate, Aisling made sure that only one of her two quarters went in.

Miss. Smarty Pants

The parenting experts suggest involving your child in grocery shopping to overcome food pickiness. The idea being if the child participates in selecting food items and menu planning, they will be more motivated to try a variety of foods. I don't allow my children to participate in planning our dinner menus because the meals would consist of the following - fries, fries, and hot dogs.
I do however bring the kids to the grocery store. Certainly, we've practised math skills while counting out peppers or apples in the produce section. Once in a blue moon, we've had the children express their desire to taste an exotic fruit or a hankering for some other food item. Keeping in mind the parenting experts' advice, I oblige.
But mostly, I bring along the kids to the grocery store to give their memory skills a run. Ceilidh usually accompanies me on the weekly outings to Costco. I will recite a list of needed items and have her repeat them while we are shopping.
Last week, I said to her, "Ceilidh, don't forget to remind Mommy we need to buy juice boxes too."

"Okay," she replies.

After a moment, she adds, "Mommy? Maybe you should make a list!"

Enterprising Artist

Devlin has discovered a new passion - creating superhero comic books. He can spend hours drawing the characters, writing the storyline and stapling together his masterpieces. Since he stumbled upon this hobby, he has created comic books for each of his grandparents and mailed them out. He drew a comic book about Flash for Mommy (because I like Flash) and one of Spiderman for Daddy, since he knows Spiderman is Daddy's favorite superhero.
He is currently working on a story line involving Green Lantern. Usually, he is very proud of his work and when he bestows the final product on a chosen recipient, it is with great honour that this literary work is received. You see, Devlin's creations are one of a kind, and he also commissions each piece with the recipient in mind. 
Today, Daddy discovered that Devlin has come to the realization that one's passion and talent can also earn a living, or at least some pocket change.
Devlin had spent the afternoon laboriously working on another comic book. He wouldn't let anyone actually see his work until it was finished. Then he showed it to his father.

"It's a book about Spiderman! Do you like it, Daddy?"

Daddy replied enthusiastically that he did indeed.

"Do you want it?"

Daddy agreed that he did want another one of Devlin's original works for his collection.

"That'll be two dollars please!"

Hustled by his own six year old!

Easter Business

I received a good reality check this morning from my kids. I now know I have been remiss in teaching my children about the basic fundamentals of our faith. I was immensely proud of the fact that all three can recite the Lord's Prayer but this morning's discussion left me with no illusions that even weekly Sunday School has any great influence over the increasingly secular world my children live in.

On the short drive to church this morning, I reminded the children that it was Palm Sunday. "Yes, we know, we get to wave palms today!" they replied.
I asked if they understood what was special about Palm Sunday and proceeded to tell them about Jesus riding on a donkey. That much they did know. But when I questioned them about next weekend's significance, I was in for a surprise.

Mommy: Do you know Friday is called Good Friday?
Devlin: I know. It's Good Friday because we have no school that day, and Monday is also a day off. That's why it's Good.
Mommy: No, it's not Good Friday because you get the day off of school. It's called Good Friday because...
Ceilidh: Oh I know. It's Good Friday because the Easter Bunny comes after with candy and chocolate!
Aisling: Yeah, chocolate.

If they weren't so earnest in their explanations, I would have thought they were pulling my leg. As it was, Daddy and I spent the next five minutes providing a Reader's Digest version of the Easter story.

The next difficult question was, "What do you mean he died for us?"

Thankfully we had pulled into the church parking lot before my kids could figure out that Jesus' death on the cross would earn them a "get out of jail free" card every time with God.