Easter Stress!

I know that I am suppose to enjoy the Easter weekend, but really all it does is stress me out!  Don't get me wrong, I love that I share that time with the kids and family.  It is just all the other "STUFF" that comes with it that I hate!


First there is the planning....you want to make sure you see everyone and spend some quality time together.  Since it is Easter everyone wants a brunch!  Well that is hard to make happen when you need to be at three to four locations at once.  I have been dealing with this for a few years now and have been lucky enough to have a great family that has evolved this into a better situation.  We have spread Easter out to cover the entire weekend.  We start by waking up at home to celebrate with our little family.  Then, it is off to Cincinnati for lunch at Ninna's then move to the next stop to wake up and cram quality time at Paw Paw's in order to make it to Great Grandpa's for a quick lunch.  Once done there, it is back into the car for a two hour drive to the final Grandparents house for some dinner!  Can you begin to feel how this can end up a bit stressful?

Second is the preparation.....it all starts weeks before with getting the needed items for the Easter baskets.  This is one of the fun parts, but still needs to be done!  The other part of perparing for the weekend is packing the entire family up.  You want to travel light and be as organized as possible to make it quick and easy at every stop.   O-there is also egg coloring!  That is a must!

Third is the maintenance.....at each stop you need to keep track of all the belongings.  You know how those kids work.  Things just start to disappear all over the place.   I find myself spending most of the time following the kids and making sure to pick up behind them.  Things from their Easter baskets start flying all over the place, and there are plenty of trails of shoes, socks, and sippy cups to follow!

Fourth are the grumpy kids.......that start to come out once you are well into the weekend.  We all know how important schedules are for kids, and weekends like this are meant to do nothing other then mess with schedules.  This can even spill into the next week and take awhile to get things back on track.

Fifth is the clean up.........that happens late Sunday night.  After all the celebrating is done it is time to return home and try to get ready for the week.  All kinds of things have to be unpacked and put back in their places.  Not to mention that the car is usually a total disaster!

All of the above leads me to a large bottle of wine on Sunday night followed by taking Monday off to try and do the weekend duties that did not get done on the weekend.  You know the things.....laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping!