If not religious, why do you celebrate Easter?

[curiouscanadian]

If you're not religious, why do you celebrate Easter? DS is still to young to even know he's missing anything so we're really not doing anything for the holiday this year, but I'm trying to work out in my own head why we might next year. I see posts on here about what people are getting their kids for Easter instead of chocolate and candy, (which I would tend towards as well) but I just can't find the reasoning behind it for us...

I guess I feel like he would be missing something but can't quite figure out what or why. It's certainly not religious for us and I'd rather not turn it into a chocolate/candy-fest, so I'm wondering what's left? Is it just cultural pressure?

[zebra15]

For us its just 'fun'. Yep just pure fluff and nothing else. And its a way to get DS some needed spring/summer things in a fun way. Pool stuff, outside stuff, etc that he either wouldnt get or would get lesser quality of.

I guess the same could be said about christmas y/k?

[Aka mommy]

Well, not exactly what you're asking. But while we are religious, we don't celebrate holidays as religious. Not sure if that makes sense. We don't celebrate Easter in regards to christianity or anything (just had to ask dh what people celebrate easter for in christianity lol). Instead we do the baskets and the egg hunts and we celebrate the start of spring since easter falls right after the start of spring. This is why their baskets are full of spring inspired activities. And we do the egg hunt and learn about baby bunnies and baby birds and the circle of life.

But if it's not something you're into, dont do it. We don't celebrate any of the holidays except 4th of July and Halloween and Christmas (again in a non religious sense). I'm just not big into celebrating every.single.holiday.

[lotusdebi]

It's just a fun Spring thing. Egg hunts and Spring-themed gifts and dyeing eggs. I'll give the kids something related to playing in the warmer weather (bubbles, water-shooters, gardening gloves, etc.) and a few small toys. Plus, egg hunts and dyeing eggs are silly and fun. No deeper meaning.

[Drummer's Wife]

Because it's fun to hunt for eggs and eat candy.

[AutumnAir]

Because eggs are an obvious symbol of fertility and promise for the coming year. Because I like spring and it's nice to 'welcome' it. And because I <3 chocolate!

[bjorker]

If it were left to us, we'd probably just do an egg hunt because it's fun, and leave it at that. We don't do baskets or candy or go out and buy a bunch of stuff, I'm just totally not interested and dd doesn't know the difference, even at five. However, usually it ends up being a family thing with some kind of gathering, so that's all it really is to me. I can't say it's something I typically plan for. I always forget that other (non-religous) people make a big deal about easter!

I do feel a tad guilty going to these family things, because everybody always has a bunch of stuff to give to the kids, and I never bring anything. So I was trying to figure out some craft that we could make, that might make an okay gift as well. dd and I made a bunny out of pony beads tonight, and we'll make more tomorrow. There's also a chick and a lamb.

I don't mind a good excuse for crafts.

[karne]

Although easter has deepley spiritual roots for both DH and I, over the years we've moved away from the religious aspect pretty significantly. What stays is a way to mark the beginning of a new season (yay!), and some family traditions that the kids love. There is much more of a nature/seasonal aspect for us now. Plus, we love filling up Easter baskets!

[Jessy1019]

It's fun to dye (and hide, and hunt for) eggs, it's fun to buy cool little things for my kids and fill their baskets, and it's a nice chance to get together with our families, to have a big meal and for the kids to play with their cousins.

We're atheists, my kids know what religious people believe the holiday to be about (same with xmas), and they know why we disagree. It's still fun for them.

Personally, I like holidays. I like the preparation and the actual day, and I would feel like my kids were missing out on something fun if we didn't celebrate at all.

[4evermom]

It's a great way to celebrate spring even if you aren't religious. I find it overwhelmingly likely that Easter is one of those Christian replacements of a tradition with more Pagan roots, like Christmas replacing the Winter Solstice, so I don't feel it has to be all about Jesus if you aren't Christian. It's fun and I enjoy sharing some of the things I experienced as a child with ds. Plus, it becomes awkward to not do with your child the things his friends and cousins are doing after age 2 or 3.

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Because it's fun to hunt for eggs and eat candy.

i like the excuse to eat chocolate
also i've bought some little crafty bits for the kiddies stars, coloured paper, craft scissors, feathers etc to make pictures

[Kelly1101]

Same reason we celebrate Christmas-- it's more of a secular holiday with the eggs and easter bunny, etc.

[green betty]

As a person of Celtic origin, I think of both Christmas and Easter as cultural holidays that are rooted in my ancestry, dating back to long before the Christians came along. We celebrate Easter to welcome the spring.

It always amuses me to watch Christians try and justify what bunnies and eggs and other symbols of fertility have to do with Jesus, though--cultural appropriation at its finest.

[Mama Mko]

We do it because it's fun. Family gets together, we eat good food, the kids have fun hunting for eggs.

[Tigeresse]

Same here...new life, renewal, spring, plain old fun of it. DH gets Good Friday off so it becomes a long weekend. We're also doing Passover with family this weekend so it will be quite a spring fest.

[LavenderMae]

Tradition, fun, candy & good food and celebrating spring.

[kitkatkaddoodle]

I find it more odd that Christians celebrate Easter with eggs, chocolates, and bunnies than I do anyone else; it would seem like mixing candies and the sacrifice of Jesus would be kind of confusing and at cross-purpose. Like Halloween, it's mostly just a fun seasonal celebration for me, and a nice way to mark spring.

[Grace and Granola]

Easter, as it's celebrated culturally, has nothing to do with religion! We are Christians and I'm having a hard time figuring out why we're doing the easter egg stuff...and the answer is simply because it's FUN! And it's a cultural tradition.

[One_Girl]

We celebrate the holidays mostly because they are fun. I don't want my dd thinking that she is missing out on fun just because we don't hold the same beliefs as other people. I have always called these days family days.

[curiouscanadian]

I really like the idea of concentrating on spring/renewal of life. I was trying to compare it in my own mind to Christmas, but to me Christmas is about family get-togethers, giving to the less fortunate and just generally sharing love in all forms but Easter isn't that to me. Sure we always get together for easter dinner, but it's kind of "flat" otherwise.

I realized as I was reading the responses that maybe part of my confusion (if you'd call it that), is that I remember doing an Easter egg hunt maybe once in my whole life?? We just didn't do them, so it's not really a tradition for me. But I suppose it could be fun to start!

Personally, I like holidays. I like the preparation and the actual day, and I would feel like my kids were missing out on something fun if we didn't celebrate at all.

Personally, I don't care for the preparation. Some days it feels like all I can do to stay on top of every day things so I tend to get stressed about anything "extra". But I do feel like my kid would be missing out if we didn't do something.