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Straight to her room she went for time out and I took the Easter basket I had so painstakingly put together for the Easter bunny and i felt sad. I felt sad because i didn't think they really understood what Easter really was about. I felt guilty that I had not given them some idea of Jesus, of something bigger than the basket she had just angrily kicked across the floor.
I'm not overly religious, I was raised in a Catholic Family. I went to CCD every Wednesday, church most Sunday's and most certainly every holiday. My Dad was adamant about it. As i got older my belief system changed. I began exploring spirituality and trying to figure out what i believed in. I decided at that moment that i would never force any particular religion on my children. I wanted them to figure out what they believed in for themselves. Never the less i was feeling sad that they didn't know the origin's of Easter or really any other holiday. They thought it was about getting gifts. So i sat down with them and asked them if they new what each of our holidays were about. I got the normal, well Christmas is about Jesus and his birth, and Valentines day is about love. "Halloween?, I'm not sure maybe about scary stuff, but we don't know why", and Easter, my kids had no idea about Easter. I felt so much guilt for not passing on my Catholic roots to my girls, even though i didn't believe it. I however decided that it was a great teaching moment. I sat the girls down and turned on my computer and i asked them if they wanted to learn the origin of all of our holidays. They were excited actually!! I got excited. I asked them questions along the way. What there thoughts were on God, on Santa, on the Easter bunny. It was interesting to hear what it was that they thought each holiday was about.

My two youngest children were born in a time when my life was chaos. My Father died when my youngest daughter was 10 months old and I was going through a hell driven divorce. Baptizing them was not on my mind and the circumstances surrounding my fathers death made me question even more my religion and my spirituality. At that point I was angry. I didn't believe that my children were born with sin. I didn't believe we were born sinners and I didn't believe that my children were going to hell for choices they hadn't even begun to realize they could make or not make. I thought its my job as there mother to ensure they didn't sin. My job to teach them to make the right choices. How was baptizing them going to help me with that?

What I discovered is that most of our religious holidays are a mix of Pagan and Christian beliefs. Really a mix of all belief's to some extent.
I new after this teaching moment with my two youngest girls that I had been right all along to let them decide for themselves what to believe. I also discovered in the end , that ultimately we are all pulling from the same energy force. What we want to accomplish in the end is the same thing a human man named Jesus wanted. A world where acceptance of one another is key. Where giving outweighs getting. Where love is more important than hate. It is what i will strive to instill in my children and my grandchildren for as long as i live. Amen!!!!