Easter baskets

Easter is coming up for those who celebrate (or do the Easter Bunny thing.) Kids with allergies may feel left out, but here are some ideas for filling the basket for your kids with allergies.

I'm a little tired of the candy bonanzas of Valentine's Day and recent birthday parties, so I'm thinking about how to make Easter memories about more than just candy. Note, there will be candy, just not pounds of it.

So the basket will be there, with one chocolate bunny, a few little German chocolate lady-bugs that I remember from my own Easters, a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser, a special bubble wand and some new colored pencils and stickers.

Make it about rituals. 

Your kids will remember these as much or more than the candy.

We have a special Easter plate and decorations. We will decorate eggs with Paas kits, draw on them with markers and have a family brunch (even though its only the three of us we do it up.) I remember from my childhood, the white table cloth and flowers, the juice served in fancy glasses and dressing up. It was all wonderful.

Now, my family is a little more casual, but we still have the bunny plates and nice napkins and we'll make it special in our own way.

The white table cloth might be gone, but we'll do an Easter egg hunt. Last year was in the snow, but this year we'll keep our fingers crossed. We might decorate with some branches and hang eggs on them (whatever branch we can scavenge works) or you might by an Easter egg tree from a gift shop or Michaels.

What are your family rituals? Don't have any? Make them up. Go for a walk after the egg-hunt, have a "Signs of Spring" scavenger hunt, watch a favorite Easter movie, read Peter Cottontail out loud, wear bunny ears, go to Church as a family if that is what your family does. Make it special. Include candy, but make the focus on the whole experience.

And how to handle that candy? See my Valentine's post for details.