https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:14:59 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503867 Wed, 23 Mar 2016 06:12:38 +0000 looch 2503867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Yes, that is my issue as well. My son is a bit older and understands the difference between being alive or dead, but I struggle with ressurection. It's not like I can draw a parallel to it with something that has happened in his life. Christmas is easier, because he understands what it means to have a birthday (again, I know it's not the fullest description, but for now it works). That's why I've simplified having died, risen and ascended into what I did. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503855 Wed, 23 Mar 2016 05:37:32 +0000 Adira 2503855@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: Considering that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, it's pretty easy to me to associate Easter with the celebration of Spring.</p> <p>I was not raised religious, so I've never associated Easter with anything other than celebrating Spring and another holiday to get-together with family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503799 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 21:49:30 +0000 hummusgirl 2503799@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're Jewish and explain Christmas like, "Christmas is a holiday that a lot of people celebrate. We don't because we're Jewish, but we can look at the pretty lights and trees." Maybe something similar for Easter? Though LO once said his favorite holiday was Christmas so maybe that backfired... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503793 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 21:38:30 +0000 irene 2503793@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Interesting discussion, no I never really think I need to explain anything about Easter.... so far LO is 4 years old and everything about Easter is all whacko anyway. Why would you have candy and stickers and toys in an egg and why do you have to find them in the bushes? And what is with that gigantic bunny? I still don't understand what does a bunny has to do with eggs. Shouldn't it be a goose character instead of bunny so it makes more sense that we find the eggs that were laid by a goose? I remember someone explained it to me last year but I forgot what this all was. And how is this related to Jesus and crucifixion and resurrection? We'll cross that bridge when we get there but we are not close to that bridge yet. I think I'll worry about Christmas first :)</p> <p>ETA: I purchased via amazon a dozen of dinosaur eggs (with a dinosaur in each egg) and was going to put dinosaur tattoos and easter egg chocolate in each egg for DS's easter egg hunt at school tomorrow. The eggs delivered today and just now I was stuffing them and I was like. Oh maybe I should have stuck with something more regular/traditional because how does dinosaur eggs have anything to do with anything. HAHA. OK who cares. We don't have to write our names on these lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503781 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 21:24:22 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2503781@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Could you just say the reason why kids are getting presents and looking for eggs is because the Easter Bunny left them? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503754 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 21:09:35 +0000 mrsbubbletea 2503754@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: good point!</p> <p>This is very interesting convo! I think it's a lot harder for people who grew up religious to think of how to describe religious holidays in a non religious context to their children (that they are raising in a secular way). As opposed to my husband, I asked him after reading this thread and he just shrugged. No big deal to him! It's not a big deal to me either but I do think about how I want to approach it. I grew up a liberal Catholic but we definitely knew the religious meanings of holidays! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503738 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 20:51:50 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2503738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: as I mentioned in my response to others, I have no issue with adopting some of the social activities around Easter. My intent and question is not to rewrite the holiday but figure out how to explain it to a curious not quite 3 year old. I didn't grow up with these practices so I have zero context of how people who aren't religious but do egg hunts and baskets and all that address this with little kids. When LO is older, I fully intent to educate her on what Easter means, but I can't explain resurrection to her right now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503735 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 20:47:47 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2503735@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: I do agree with your perspective and the intent isn't to offend the religious context of the holiday nor to lie to my kid. But my just shy of 3 year old toddler has no concept of religion, so when she asks about why we look for eggs and why her friends got presents, I don't know the right words to use to explain Christ has risen. I grew up around Eastern Orthodox Christianity, there were absolutely no aspects of social Easter like there are in the US and my family never adopted these traditions since I was too old for that stuff by the time we moved here. As my kid gets older, we will of course talk about religious beliefs (more academically, since we don't practice a particular faith) and what Easter actually means. But at her current age it's too much of a topic, hence my question. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503675 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 19:58:05 +0000 honeybear 2503675@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Finfan: I did not say that anyone has to talk about Jesus if they choose to attend an egg hunt. It is perfectly fine with me if an adult chooses not to say a word about Easter/God/Jesus/Christianity if and when they accompany their child(ren) to look for candy and stickers in plastic eggs. </p> <p>But... </p> <p>The question posed was: "How do you explain what <i>Easter</i> is?" Therefore, I think that it's ridiculous to say that the Christian faith has nothing to do with it. And I will reiterate that it's offensive to say "it's a celebration of spring." Because <i>Easter</i> cannot honestly be reduced to that. If you want to put a finer point on it, substitute “Eid al-Fitr” (when it falls in the spring) or “Passover” for “Easter” and ask yourself if you’d honestly be okay reducing either of those holidays to "a celebration of spring" in front of your child. </p> <p>Look, I get that the issue here is not really about not knowing how to explain Easter. Based on what she has written, I have confidence that @Mrs. Carrots: is able to explain it in a totally accurate and probably also very deeply meaningful way (I mean this as a compliment to her, in case the tone doesn't transmit across the internet). My point is simply that discomfort with explaining something accurately and honestly (even if you use disclaimers like “I don’t believe this, but…”) is not an excuse for being dishonest to children and offensive to others. There are plenty of other honest and inoffensive ways to deal with this situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503595 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:37:31 +0000 Mrs Panda 2503595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Does it have to be explained? For my four year old, all she needs to know is chocolate! Treats! A bunny? Ok fine, whatever. She doesn't really ask questions (except, how does the bunny get into the house to leave the basket? Bunnies have no hands!). Maybe I just have an incurious child. Ha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503579 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:16:56 +0000 Finfan 2503579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: @rattles: Other people can attend something like an Easter egg hunt without having to talk about Jesus. Egg hunts have nothing to do with the resurrection. Your own Christian faith has nothing to do with this. The OP asked for advice from secular families which you apparently are not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503518 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:44:57 +0000 tlcbaby 2503518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: Fair enough. Based on this post (this is the only one I read), I just got the impression she enjoyed the celebration, but was looking for advice on how to explain it. I don't agree, however, that people can't have their own reasons for participating in certain traditions. Different activities/traditions have different meanings for different people. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503510 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:39:16 +0000 looch 2503510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: I struggle with explaining resurrection in a child appropriate way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503508 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:31:55 +0000 honeybear 2503508@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: Yes, you're exactly right about not "rewriting" the holiday. It's the most important holiday of the Christian faith. Substituting an important holiday in any other faith for "Easter" in "Easter is a celebration of spring" makes the offensiveness of the recharacterization quite clear. </p> <p>To the original question, I would give a straightforward account of Easter such as: "Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That event is understood by Christians as proof of his divinity." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503506 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:27:42 +0000 ShootingStar 2503506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: Well, to be fair the timing of Easter and a lot of the traditions are actually rooted in the Pagan festival Eostre, which Christians "rewrote" and co-opted to advance the adoption of Christianity. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503468 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:42:19 +0000 honeybear 2503468@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I just lay it out there pretty much exactly like that. I suppose if I was approaching the topic of Easter from not being Christian/not practicing/etc., I'd preface it with "This is what Christians believe," followed by actual text from the Bible. I tend to disfavor distillations of "hard" texts aimed at children, and I don't think that most of the New Testament is all that hard for children to start to understand. That's essentially what I do anyhow, without the preface. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503444 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:24:58 +0000 rattles 2503444@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: @tlcbaby: OP has noted on a couple of threads some discomfort with celebrating or explaining Easter. My point was that I don't think she needs to celebrate it if she has reservations about its clearly religious origin or overtones. There are other fun things to do to celebrate the spring!</p> <p>And honestly, I don't have a problem with anyone participating in secular celebrations, but I don't appreciate rewriting the holiday itself as primarily about spring or baby animals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503416 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:12:13 +0000 Adira 2503416@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: A lot of secular families celebrate Easter, just like Christmas. I was raised Agnostic and we always celebrated Easter and Christmas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503391 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:03:20 +0000 tlcbaby 2503391@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rattles: I agree that Easter is traditionally a religious holiday, but many of the traditions surrounding Easter (egg hunts, Easter baskets and coloring eggs) no longer have religious connotations (even the ones that once did). I don't think its necessary to refrain from participating in those activities simply because one does not believe in/support the meaning behind the original holiday. It's kind of taken on a secular/commercial life of its own! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503385 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 14:58:54 +0000 tlcbaby 2503385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: I like that. I hadn't really thought of how to explain why. DS asked why we were coloring eggs the other day and I just said, "That is what we do at Easter." :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503306 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 14:27:06 +0000 looch 2503306@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: Yes, I realize that, but I didn't know what to say about that to my 5 year old...do you have any suggestions? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503267 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 14:00:55 +0000 MoonMoon 2503267@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Spring is a big deal around our house, so we just tie it into one long St Patrick's Day/Norouz (Persian new year)/Easter celebration of rebirth, renewal, celebrating nature, all the good stuff. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503261 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 13:57:47 +0000 rattles 2503261@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Easter is a religious holiday. If you're uncomfortable talking about it with her, perhaps participating even in the more secular components just isn't the right choice for your family. I don't think opting out of a few egg hunts or whatever would socially stigmatize your LO. I might broaden the celebration of spring - visit a farm, plant a garden, learn about Passover and Easter - without participating in the holidays if they just don't fit with your beliefs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503122 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:54:05 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2503122@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Happygal: I agree, and as she gets older I think we can definitely have a conversation about different religious beliefs, but it's not one I want to have without context. I'm not going to tackle "Mommy, who's Jesus" conversation in a meaningful way LOL</p> <p>That said, the reason why we want to do it is kind of a terrible one, hence my struggle on how to explain it. Basically, I would be very happy not to do anything around Easter because I'm very socialized to it being a deeply religious holiday. However, it's such a social holiday as well (and I didn't grow up in the US, so that doesn't help either) that inevitably my kid is going to feel left out and I'm going to be fielding questions of why do other kids get baskets and I don't, etc. So I'm going with the path of least resistance and adopting these social activities early on (when we're invited to them - I'm not doing my own egg hunt nor bunny pictures or anything), hence the need for an explanation of what it all means. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503083 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:40:30 +0000 Mrs. Milk 2503083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been thinking on this too, @Mrs. Carrot! Thanks for all of these great ideas, friends! I like the celebration of spring, and, as my kiddo gets older and understands the concept of religion, contextualizing what is also being celebrated by Christians, as well as information about Passover. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503076 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:36:51 +0000 honeybear 2503076@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: This explanation is not accurate. Jesus doesn't enter Heaven on Easter, that doesn't happen until the Feast of the Ascension. He still had some business with the Apostles--Doubting Thomas and all that--to take care of first. Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503056 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:29:12 +0000 Happygal 2503056@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it's great for children to understand others' perspectives and have a cultural knowledge of things, so I would explain something like @looch: said (and that is actually why we celebrate in my family).</p> <p>I would think about why you want to do these things and tell her just that. If it's a celebration of spring, then tell her that. If it's a "just for fun" activity, then roll with that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503038 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:22:51 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 2503038@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also say it's a celebration of spring, new beginnings/life. We do an Easter basket and will do an egg hunt this year (he's only 20 months so we didn't do it last year). I'm not hot on the Easter Bunny but we haven't had to deal with any questions about that yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503010 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:02:35 +0000 ShootingStar 2503010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't go into that much detail. Easter is when the Easter Bunny comes and brings a basket of stuff and there are Easter eggs. He's only 2.5 so he doesn't really question things yet. </p> <p>Just like Christmas is a day we celebrate giving to others and Santa brings presents. The end. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-arent-religious-and-do-easter-activities#post-2503006 Tue, 22 Mar 2016 11:59:40 +0000 deerylou 2503006@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We celebrate the religious aspects of Easter, but I'd just say it's a celebration of the spring season, new life, and new beginnings.🌷 </p>