My sister recently asked me what I found to be the most surprising thing about being a mother. My answer? Suddenly becoming the Easter Bunny (and Santa and the Tooth Fairy and all the other magical personas of childhood). No pressure right? While I don't think Santa really got the memo this year, I wasn’t going to fall down on Easter too!
This is Lola’s first Easter which means it's my first one as a mother. Add in the fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic, so now I had no idea where to start with an Easter Basket and I had to do all while maintaining social distancing. In addition, I felt an even stronger need to make this Easter fun and special when our current reality can feel so heavy and scary.
Well, I am not one to toot my own horn, but I think I was actually successful and I’m looking forward to Easter morning with our girl.
First things first, we needed a basket! I was originally going to hit up the dollar store because I’m fairly confident that’s where my childhood one came from. However, when I went to purchase the basket, the idea of social distancing was just coming out so I wanted to limit the amount of stores I went to. As I needed other items, I went to Michaels. The Easter items were already on sale and all baskets were buy one get one free! Currently Michaels is doing curb-side pick up for online orders across Canada (excluding Quebec) with amazing sales going on! You’ll be able to find great deals all while staying safe - its a win/win! I purchased our baskets (Samir and I have a blue and white one), grass, and some decorations for the house.
When I previously imagined our first Easter, it included Lola getting dressed up for church. I know that going to church this year is not going to happen so I went with something casual but cute from GAP kids. The GAP (Old Navy and Banana Republic) are great online shopping options for a couple reasons. Not only do they have a relatively speedy delivery, they also have amazing sales. These pair of shoes were only $3.50! A great tip is to sign up for their emails and watch the coupons come bouncing in. I made sure to wash the onesie before putting it in Lola’s basket so that she can wear it that day!
Lola has been eating solids for a few months now and she has outgrown a lot of her bibs. I found these Bumkins bibs on Amazon and couldn’t pass them up! While Lola is still a little young for the Munchkin snack cups, I know I am going to be happy to have them on hand when she is ready. They were around $10.
Lastly I wanted a couple of things that facilitated play and learning. Sandra Boynton is one of my favourite children’s author and I had a hard time picking which book to put in her basket - there is a large selection on Amazon! I was so excited when I found The Hide N’ Squeak Eggs because its holiday themed AND will help Lola with her fine motor skills!
As for mine and Samir’s baskets, the chocolate is still en route and I pray Amazon Prime does not let me down! I need my quarantine snacks!
