Holiday Hoopla

So I was thinking about the holidays today. My dear friend Em thinks I'm funny for making such a big deal out of even the littlest holidays. I came to the conclusion that there are 2 reasons why I do this. The first is simple-I worked with kids for nearly 10 years and we always made some sort of holiday decor. The second is a little more complicated-my family.

Our family gatherings as a child took place at my grandparents place. I was blessed to have a grandmother who was so incredible. That is where the happy story ends. My brother, cousins and I would pretty much hide out in a bedroom and avoid the rest of the family. Why? Conflict! It wasnt a family holiday unless someone was screaming about something and someone else (usually my mom) was crying. My grandfather wasn't the nicest guy ever. He wasn't a monster but I don't look back and think wow what a fantastic grandfather I had. He would fight over shit that happened 30 years ago. He wasn't a fan of my father and didn't treat my mother (his daughter) a whole lot better. My grandmother wouldn't stand for his insults and would stand up for whatever family member he decided to start a fight with. My favorite memory (sad but true) is of my grandmother screaming at my grandfather. He had made my brother who was probably 8 at the time cry over something so incredibly stupid. What was it? My grandfather had asked for a small piece of cake and when my brother cut it for him apparently it was too small and my grandpa thought my brother was being selfish. Seriously!

I could go on for days with examples like this but who wants to read about that. The moral of my sad little story? I just don't want my son to ever look back and think of his family like this. I want him to remember mom putting him in silly outfits and making a bigger deal then she should of a holiday. It certainly seems like a much better way to remember your childhood.

Now tomorrow will be fairly simple. Church in the a.m. (yes really). I'm making doro wat and ET cabbage and carrots for lunch. We'll use the mesob/basket and tablecloth we got while in Ethiopia. And for dinner tomorrow we are going to my neighbors church. They are having a big traditional Easter dinner. Maybe we'll even hide a few Easter eggs-although Tesfa won't know to look for them :-)

Tomorrow is Fasika and I'll be thinking of Tesfa's family in Ethiopia. I hope that they find strength to get through, what I imagine will be, a very hard day for them.