Amen, Sister! :What Are We Doing to Ourselves??

First of all, you need to go read a post written by another gal on her blog. It's at Rage Against the Minivan (the title of her blog already draws you in, so just click it and read!).
It's ok, I'll wait while you read. I'm not going anywhere. I can amuse myself.

Read the entire thing... all of it.....

Ok. I think this lady makes some good points. I admit I had no idea that the holiday craze was such a big deal! I thought all those holiday pins on Pinterest were just pinned and then fell by the wayside. People actually do elf on the shelf? People actually "plant" jelly beans so their kids can wake up to lollipops on the lawn? People actually make teacher gifts?

I'm not trying to be rude here. If you're a parent and planting jelly beans is a way that you love to connect with your child, then I am all for it. When I was growing up, one way my parents show their love is by giving gifts. They LOVE to give us things; even after I got married, they still send us treats occasionally and we are absolutely spoiled over Christmas and birthdays. There were many years where I woke up to a valentine and a treat from my dad, ranging from stuffed animals to jewelry to candy. Even just this last year my mom was in the area and she gave me my Easter basket with some treats inside. This is how my parents enjoy loving us, and for the most part I think my siblings and I are grateful for the things they get us.

What bothers me about this are the parents who plant jelly beans because they feel like they have to. It's the parents who bend over backwards to "keep up with the Jones's" and make sure their house looks impeccable, their child looks adorable, and that everything is appropriately decorated for every possible holiday. The parents who are always worn out, who feel like they have to be perfect, that they have some standard to live up to.

Where did this idea come from? Why do we beat ourselves us and run ourselves ragged just to do all this JUNK?

(Probably advertising. I might start blaming everything on advertising. They're the reason I have to shave my legs.)

What's even more sad to me is that some of these holidays actually have a meaning behind them, and the meaning is lost behind advent calendars and dying eggs. With Easter approaching, and a Yockeyite on the way, a thought that sometimes shows up is How on earth will I teach Gummy Bear the meaning of Easter? How can I show Gummy Bear that the Easter Bunny is a hoax, and that what we really are celebrating is the resurrection of our Savior? (No offense to the Easter Bunny, but his role in Easter celebrations is kind of stupid, in my mind. It makes no sense!)

Anyways, I echo what this lady says... Stop the madness! Like I said, if you hide gold coins and dye eggs because you enjoy that time with your children (and they enjoy it too), then do it! We don't all have the same methods for raising children. The point is, we don't need to make our lives even more busy than they already are. You don't have an obligation to do all this random, weird stuff just to love your kids--there are other, easier ways to do that. Keep simplicity alive.