How Not To Do Easter My Way

I'm back. Thanks for all the wonderful comments while I was gone, they made me smile. The grounding was very good for me, I got a lot done, I worked very hard, and yet.... And yet my house still has the Monday morning haven't-cleaned-in-weeks-and-has-been-ransacked-by-an-army-of-small-demons look to it. Ah well, at least this time I can say that it wasn't because of me. You may remember my posts on how to have a lovely and a peaceful Easter? Well, great game plans only work if everyone follows the plan. This year we all deviated enough to cause total mayhem. I won't go into too many details but here are some of the main bullet points:

1. Don't allow your daughter to have a friend sleepover Friday night, forgetting that on Saturday you do your egg hunt. This is because said friend will turn your eldest child into a giggling mass of bad decisions, they will stay up and keep you up WAY too late on a pregnant holiday eve and make us all so tired that Mr. Easter Bunny sleeps in the next day, you won't have an Easter basket for the friend and you will have to scrounge around to make one for her, friend will start an egg fight that your kids will fully participate in despite all their upbringing and you won't be left with any eggs for deviled eggs, and in the 7 minutes that you step inside all the candy, playdough, eggs, toys, etc that you purchased, packaged, hid, and were excited about will be torn apart and strewn on the lawn and kids will be crying because they suddenly realize that they have ruined their stuff and are getting hit in the head with eggs, and because the friend won't even say, "Thank you for letting me ruin your holiday" as she heads out your door.

2. Don't schedule events for March 22nd, this coming Saturday, and the day before Easter unless your brain knows that they are all the same day because then you will be WAY over booked during a pregnant holiday.

3. Next Easter I am going to wash underwear, socks, and clothing for church and a nice non church outfit for every kid, then I will wrap them in waterproof plastic and lock them into a safe so that, despite all my hard work and my utter fatigue, I won't be found doing what I was doing Sunday morning. Lets just say that it was the kind of day that makes me say (in a tizzy and ready to cry as I hand my two sons a grey and blue pair and a green and brown pair, "Here, and if anyone asks you why your socks don't match you just tell them that we do this on purpose for Easter."

4. Don't think you are on the freeway heading home at 9:30 at night unless you are SURE you are on the freeway heading home. Loosing a whole hour because you find yourself on some mountainous divided highway in the dark is not a good way to spend an evening and it will suck up the precious hour you were going to spend making food for Easter Sunday. (Thank heavens for cell phones and yahoo maps, and husbands who can guide you back home)

5. Don't spend precious time on Saturday cleaning before you leave for the rest of the day. Instead spend that time cooking. Because you know that if you leave your husband and the three youngest kids at home, on a candy high no less, for 7 hours, that the house will in no way be as clean as you left it.

Luckily, a dear friend had us over for dinner with some other dear friends of ours and the day ended perfectly, with good food, laughing children, and a smiling, tired, pregnant, me.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter!