Goodbye, Mr Easter Bunny.
Life Audit # 4
Today is ‘Easter Saturday’. AKA ‘Holy Saturday’ for the more religious (less Cadbury focused!) amongst us.
A quick internet check confirms this day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is both the last day of Lent, and also:
‘A Day of Reflection and Anticipation’.
So, here I am. Currently ‘reflecting’ that I’ve not planned tomorrow very well at all, and ‘anticipating’ that unless we pull off a minor miracle in the upcoming hours, Easter will fall spectacularly flat this year.
And I just can’t have that.
For obvious reasons we haven’t been in a position to plan much for this Easter holiday at all, and my mum guilt is real.
BUT, as this ‘life audit’ progresses, I’m starting to get a better handle on this I think. As hoped, writing about it all is making me think differently about things.
I normally post on a Tuesday, but this week? I’m making an exception because I just want to try and ‘be present’ and fully enjoy Easter without stressing that I still have this article to write. Not that I’m arrogant enough to think anyone actually gives a sh*t, it’s more that I set myself this ‘publish on Tuesday’ goal as part of this process and that drives me each week.
Evangeline, our youngest, turned 7 last weekend and she still - but only just - believes there’s an Easter Bunny who much like Santa, Jack Frost (et al) somehow possesses the supernatural ability to transcend time, space and everything in between in his ‘rabbity race’ to deliver chocolatey delights!
He’s never missed an egg hunt yet.
(F******ck. This self-imposed pressure is real).
She’s SO looking forward to all his ‘EGG-CITEMENT’ tomorrow and after what’s been yet another crazy week (as they all weirdly seem to have been of late), I know we’ll be up late tonight trying to pull something off.
Very unusually for me, I’ve just not had the brain space to do it this year and I really hate that. Where’s my head at?
In this totally transitional (HRT/Weird work) year where everything feels more than a bit off, there are so many things I’m having to accept have changed.
But Easter ‘Bunny Basics?’ Really? That sucks. How did I mess that up?!
My energy has been so focused on finding work, and then later this week (much like last week, and the week before) reacting to last minute mayhem:
2 weeks ago my dad and then dog were poorly...
Last week it was the literal (and metaphorical) injured bird…
This week … it’s teeth!
*** BTW: Update incase you didn’t get it last week, the bird did NOT make it.
But hey at least we tried which was the right thing to do, right? ***
One major thing this whole process is proving is that a lot often happens in a week in our world.
And instead of pretending otherwise, as we parents normally do, I’m actually starting to appreciate that OK, you know what? We do often deal with a fair amount on the daily, on top of all the bigger picture stuff.
Sometimes it’s manageable, other times? Less so.
So maybe a bit of slack is justified?
But hang on just a minute, back to the task at hand!
A thought is bubbling…
The kids dad, Gil always helps but as ALL our kids are here for this Easter this year - including biggest sister Lili home from Uni - Evie has 3 older siblings who have all enjoyed countless years of ‘Bunny Bon Homie’.
So, can’t I call in reinforcements, just this once?!
I just created a family whatsapp aiming straight for the heartstrings. Boom. This should do it, surely?!
I sent a long, pointed message emploring them to help pull an egg hunt together in time for tomorrow.
Unlike the last time they willingly hold your hand on the school run, or the last time they might want to sleep in your bed – this time I JUST KNOW IT’S HAPPENING. And it hurts!
This is the last Easter Bunny egg hunt that I will ever do with a child that believes it.
Amber (13) incredibly was the first to answer with one word ... ‘Okay’.
Trust me - that’s big! I was actually shocked.
Now, Easter Bunny obviously exists in the same realm as the tooth fairy.
THIS is why this week has been so dually poignant …
A big part of the reason this week has been so crazy is that ‘TIFFANY’ (Evie’s tooth fairy) has visited her TWICE … IN THE PAST 3 NIGHTS!
After a last minute cancellation earlier this week, poor Evie had a double tooth extraction under gas and air that was planned originally for JULY. We had 24 hours notice. It was chaotic to say the least as she’d never had anything like it before.
She was an absolute champ however, and really did herself proud. So very brave.
For many reasons, it was pretty brutal i.e. it ended up requiring a surgical element (If you read last week’s audit, you will know blood and injury are not my strong suit). For 7 years old she was beyond amazing.
Here she was just before the gas and air … super cool.
She recovered fairly quickly. Sore, but manageable, but then last night during an Easter holiday sleep over, she fell over and another ‘wobbler’ tooth knocked itself free from her gums! She full on spat it out. 3 teeth in 3 days, a Bates Wells record!
She’s at that age now where there’s currently more gaps than teeth, but coining it in from ‘Tiffany’ (her tooth fairy) helps a little. Turns out extractions are pretty profitable.
Now - in order to get his help with the egg hunt tomorrow, I reminded my son Cassius that he was almost 8 when I realised HE no longer believed in the tooth fairy after he left THIS following letter for HIS tooth fairy ‘TIFFIN’ (brother of TIFFANY) …
For the record, I have never laughed so much. But also, never been more gutted!
He knew it would make me laugh, he drew penises on the back of the letter with no explanation. It was near PERFECT in the kid/mum handover stakes.
He chose to let me down in a way he knew (even at that tender age) was funny and light!
‘Tiffin’ (Aka Me) replied in the only way possible. With reciprocal, knowing humour:
‘What is this? A rocket going to the moon?!’. It was April 2023. 3 years ago. A moment etched in memory and family history. We still laugh about it.
I knew then that for him, from that point forward he was done with tooth fairies and more devastatingly ‘Santa’ / ‘Elves’ that upcoming Christmas.
And I see it coming now this year with Evie which is why tomorrow is SO, so pivotal and why I am so angry at myself for not preparing better.
Had I not had this life audit in place and been panicking about getting this article finished so I could spend tomorrow and Monday with the kids before returning to the hell of the job search on Tuesday … I may very well not have joined the dots.
I very nearly let the last Easter slip away at the cost of … what exactly?! I won’t remember how many Linkedin posts I wrote or how many job applications I sent, but Evie (and her siblings) will hopefully remember the last egg hunt we do here at the Convent – not least because if we do end up selling the house that’s the last of 11 years worth of memories right there (Amber was 2 years when we did the first effort which seems nuts).
I said at the beginning of the experiment that this whole thing is about me fighting to keep the house, my sanity and my humour and by writing this piece, I’ve had a massive realisation tonight…
I know it’s not just the kids that need to say Goodbye Mr Easter Bunny, I think I need to, too. After tomorrow he will cease to exist … until the grandkids come!
As I type the end of this article, Amber and dad are writing clues for the hunt. Cass is upstairs distracting Evie with Minecraft shenanigans and Lili will help marshall putting the eggs out in the morning I’m sure.
If Easter Sunday represents HOPE and RENEWAL then in the context of this experiment nothing could be more timely! I need a bit of both please …
SO! The outcome of Life Audit #4: Goodbye Mr Easter Bunny.
In order to try and feel less 50/50@Fifty, I fully understand how important it is
to PRIORITISE and be PRESENT for the kids whatever else is happening.
I very nearly missed this, and commit to that never happening again.
See You Next Tuesday (not like that!)
