Thinking About Easter Already?

I know Easter is still some time away as we are barely a couple of weeks into the Lenten season. I wanted to post this, however, because sometimes getting ready for Easter (much like getting ready for Advent or other liturgical seasons) can take some prep time.

For many, Easter Sunday is a day for gathering with family and friends...egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, pretty baskets filled with brightly colored eggs, toys for the kids, etc. It's almost like Christmas day! All these things are wonderful memory-makers for not just the kids, but parents too.

For me, Easter always reminds me of traditions that I grew up with. My favorite being Cascarones!! (Or Confetti Eggs). This has been a family tradition since before I was born. Many of my fondest childhood memories involve getting together for Easter with my entire family...cousins, aunts, uncles, friends...and having the funnest time cracking cascarones over each others heads. It was the funnest time because it was fair game for everyone to take part in the celebration, not just the kids.

Of course, having such a big extended family meant that we needed LOTS of cascarones. I remember my mom carefully cracking eggs for weeks before Easter to collect the eggshells. She would crack the tip of the egg, slowly peel away the tip of the eggshell, and then empty the egg into a bowl that she would use to make us scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc. She would then rinse out all the empty eggshells and place them to dry in an empty egg carton.

Some time before Easter, we would take out all the now-full egg cartons in order to color and dye all the eggshells. When that was done, we'd fill them up with confetti and glue colored tissue paper over the openings. (Of course, I had sneaky cousins who would fill some of their eggs with flour...not something I'm recommending).

Now that I have a "big" family of my own, however, I find that collecting the eggshells for Easter is not as hard as it used to be!

Want to learn more about this Mexican tradition? You can read this article from Highlights with your kids and get them excited about it! Need some detailed, step-by-step instructions? Check this article from eHow.com.