Hey! Bunnies don't lay eggs!

This is a story about my Easter woes. But to tell you about Sunday, I have to tell you about Saturday.

I am fairly active in my church. Even though I am not in a position to donate hugely in a monetary way, I volunteer a lot of time and effort. To make sure there would be a nice variety of food for the Easter lunch after services, the ladies who wanted to participate drew foods from a hat rather than having a typical pot luck sign up. Two ladies and myself decided to work together in my kitchen Saturday morning. I drew baked beans, another drew potato salad and the third drew 'hot dessert.' Fine, good, nice easy stuff. Each of us also volunteered to hard boil 3 dozen eggs each. There is a movie night for the kids on Saturday night, and we were going to let the older ones color the eggs (the younger ones were painting wooden eggs....we were smart about that!). Those eggs would then be used as part of the egg hunt Sunday afternoon.

So that's how my Saturday went. I was busy, but I was happy. I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and working constantly took my mind off of things. Saturday night it was my Sister-in-Laws turn to shuffle the boys to movie night. Afterwards, we did our own egg coloring and by the time we sent the boys off to bed, I was dead on my feet. But I managed to put the kids baskets together and tidy the house up. It is well past 1 am by the time I get to bed.

Easter Sunday! Yeah, hoorah! Wait...I forgot I was an adult and there was no basket with 2 lbs of sugar waiting for me. Ah well, I can steal some from the kids. We do our own little mini egg hunt and the kids dig into their mounds of sugary delight. I notice my toddler is playing with a (now cracked) egg and sort of picking at his basket. He is glassy eyed and has a fever. Joy. Because of a minor heart condition, he gets really high fevers with no notice and no other symptoms. They spike quickly, like within 10 minutes, and get up to 101 or 102 degrees. Scary, but I have learned to handle it pretty well. My Darling Husband could handle it, but he gets nervous. I decide to stay home. I call another mom, who agrees to pick up the kids and my dishes for church.

After 2 hours or so, Toddler is feeling better. The fever has come down, but he is still a bit lazy and listless. I decide to try and hit the end of church services and be on hand to help during lunch and the egg hunt. I arrive at the church at the tale end of the sermon and manage to sneak into a back pew. Then I head down to the kitchen to help if I can. Now, the deal was that some of us drew food, while others drew services. I know for a fact that 3 members drew kitchen help. Basically setting out silverware, serving the food, filling drinks. There were supposed to be at least 12 people in the kitchen. There are 4. So I help and skip lunch. When it's time to take the kiddos out for the egg hunt, I told the youth director I was going out front for a cigarette (away from the kids) and she could find me if I was needed. Two puffs into the cig, I was needed. There weren't enough people to help out the littlest kids (in the 1-3 age range). Wait, I said, I don't have a kid in the 1-3 age range here. Toddler is at home. Where are all the 1-3 age range parents. They are finishing lunch. Harumph (I always wanted to type that). Must be nice. Some of us never even started lunch. But I help. The hunt only takes 15 minutes or so, but 10 minutes in my cell rings. Toddler is feeling yucky again. Can I come home? Surely dear, surely. By now I am ready to escape.

That afternoon, Toddler is feeling better and I take him and his older 2 brothers to visit family. Not only do my parents make up baskets for them, but so do my aunt & uncle and my cousin's family. By the time we leave, we have enough candy to supply an army. The good thing is that now they have so much they really won't notice if DH and I snitch a piece. Or four. or eight. However, I don't know what we will do if the kids grow up and like Snickers.

Finally something wonderful happens. My brother & SIL call and would like to have my older 2 come spend the night. Trust me when I say that I could see the shining golden light and could hear the angels singing. At least I would have them out of my hair for a night.

Two hours after they are gone I realize how sorely mistaken I was. Toddler is so very attached to his older brothers. So that when they are gone, he is like a lost child. Think "Lord of the Flies" type lost child. He has no direction, no anchor. I see him slowly de-evolving from lack of companionship. Do DH and I qualify as companionship? Of course not. We're parents, and that's an entirely different species altogether.

My Easter evening is no more enjoyable than my Easter day. It is well after 7 before I realize that the only thing I've eaten all day is a mini Reese cup and a handful of jelly beans. Am I cooking for just us? Hell no. Cheese sandwiches and corn chips all around! Toddler is not happy with me. And quite frankly, neither is DH. I appease the 2 angry men in my life by allowing them full access to the other kids Easter bounty. They are sated.

The moral of this story is that there is no moral of this story. Children of the world....please remember that wonderful holidays for you are often like working a 22 hour day for your mother. At least I have a couple of months before the next one.....