What does Easter in the time of coronavirus look like? It’s the holiest day of the year for Christians — yet they cannot be at church. For secular families, it’s the biggest holiday we’ve had yet under quarantine, and away from extended family and friends. There are so many questions this year: Do you give up precious eggs for an egg hunt? Do you spend money you don’t necessarily have on toys? Is an Easter outfit out of the question?
What can we do to feel normal in these abnormal times? Here’s what a few housebound moms are doing.
Support a local bookstore
With so many small businesses suffering during the shutdown, Kelly Burch, a mother of two in New Hampshire, wants to give back while giving to her kids. “I plan to ask a local bookstore to put together basket items in the price range I’m looking for, in hope of supporting them a bit,” she says.
Brunch by Zoom
“On Easter Day, we usually have a big, casual Easter brunch with extended family and friends,” says Sarah Shemkus of Massachusetts, a mother of one. “My sister, the host, is planning to set up a Zoom call so we can all say ‘hi’ and toast with mimosas from home.”
Using what works
“Fortunately, I saved plastic eggs from last year,” says Kelly Lambert, mother of a 3-year-old and an 11-month-old in California. She’s planning to stuff the eggs with existing stickers, small toys, and pocket change that they have around the house. Last year, her older child decorated a paper bag as his basket, which he loved. “So, actually, besides not getting to do an Easter egg hunt at school with his friends, I think it will be pretty similar to how we were able to celebrate last year.”
Virtual Easter Bunny
It’s not the same as the bunny at the mall, but this year, it’ll have to do. Here are a handful of places to see the Easter Bunny online.
Don’t let perfectly good eggs go to waste
As suiting up for grocery shopping can feel like preparing for battle, you probably don’t want to make that extra run just for white eggs to dye. Kate Wehr, a mother of three from Montana, raises her own chickens. And she isn’t planning to let them go to waste. “I usually devil them or put them in potato salad afterwards,” she says. “I bought the dye kits weeks ago, pre-quarantine.”
Repurposing St. Patrick’s Day
“Everything St. Patrick’s Day was canceled in our area this year,” says Wehr — and her family didn’t get to celebrate the way they had in years past. On the off chance that her city is no longer under shelter-in-place orders, she says, “I plan on pulling the corned beef we didn’t have for St. Patrick’s Day and cooking strictly for us and grandparents with whatever we have in stock.”
Church in your PJs
“We’ll live-stream our church’s service, probably in pajamas. No fancy Easter clothes this year,” Lauren Baker Cormier, a mother of three from Maine, says. “It’s interesting to think about how different this would be if it had taken place even 20 years ago.”
An Easter piñata
Lavon Ammori, a mother of preschool-age kids in Michigan, is in the process of making an Easter piñata, with materials she already had on hand: a simple balloon form, flour and water for paste, strips of newspaper, and cardboard for the bunny ears. “We filled it with leftover Halloween candy and small toys that we already had at the house.”
A different kind of dye
No dye in your pantry? No problem. Nail-polish Easter eggs are a thing.
A celebration of all things spring
“My 8-year-old is planning a ‘spring celebration’ that includes candy (ordered online), picking flowers (if we can find any — slim chance here in upstate New York), wearing pastel clothing (bit of a stretch for both me and my husband, actually, but we’ll do our best), and doing a research project, as a family, about an animal, ‘to show respect for animals and the Earth’” says Emily Farmer Popek. “I think the homeschooling is getting to her!”
Holy Week via CatholicTV
“Easter is more a religious holiday for us,” explains Megan Rogers, of Virginia, who has a 3-year-old and a 17-month-old. “I had already been thinking about what religious items to put in their baskets (and a couple just-for-fun things). We’ve been live-streaming mass for the past couple Sundays — not from our regular church but through CatholicTV — and we’ve been doing a Zoom hangout with my mother- and sister-in-law so we are ‘attending’ Mass together.
“My diocese is also live-streaming other Holy Week Masses leading up to Easter, and I’d like to watch at least one of them. Lgbtcatholics on Instagram also has some good ideas for recognizing Holy Week, including reenacting the Last Supper at home, including having everyone in the family wash someone’s feet; and putting a lit candle on the porch or in a window on Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday).”
