The Easter Story

I've been trying to think of ways to teach Liam a little about the Easter story. I did a lot of research on fun activities and crafts that we can do together that will help him learn about it but they were all pretty much geared toward the preschool age, which is understandable since I know that Liam is way too young to comprehend the story. But I still wanted to expose him to the reason why we celebrate this holiday and how important it really is to our faith and our lives.

So this is what happened. On Palm Sunday I talked to Liam as we were getting ready for church about what Palm Sunday is all about. I felt really dumb telling him the story as he stared at me with a blank look on his face but when I was done he kept saying, "Jesus died." At least that's what I think he was saying. I quickly learned he comprehends a lot of what I say (even if he doesn't know what death is) and he also focuses on the wrong part. I kept trying to switch his thought process over to the fact that Jesus is alive or even that he rode on a donkey... anything but, "Jesus died." He soon forgot about it and hasn't said it since. Thank God.

I decided to take him to the bookstore this week to let a children's author explain it better than I can but he was too interested in the books about bunnies and chicks... and Dora... to pay much attention to the books I was reading to him. It's a good thing too because, I have to be honest here, some of those books are downright creepy. Not the words so much as the drawings. Talk about traumatizing a child. I think I will make my own next year. So we came home, popped in Jesus Christ Superstar and let the sweaty hippies tell us the story. It was the most attention Liam has paid to the Easter story thus far. From time to time, he would put his cars down and start dancing. Progress.

All joking aside, we had a wonderful Palm Sunday service at Paul's parents' church that Liam actually sat through and we are looking forward to doing some crafts at home before our Easter service on Sunday. We have also squeezed in an introduction to the Easter bunny that went a whole lot better than last year. He actually wanted to approach the bunny and even gave him a high five. I still stuck to my guns and didn't pay for a picture. We are also planning on dying and searching for eggs and enjoying all of the other fun traditions that Easter has to offer. I hope you all are having a great week and that you take some time to think about the importance of this time of year.