Happy Eeter!

Just a little blogette to get you through the week; Daddy's "real" writing hasn't slowed yet.

Theology aside, Easter's never been as popular as Christmas. No one takes off a week at Easter (Catholic high school kids excepted), the TV specials can't compare (Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey, anyone?) and Frank Sinatra never did an album of Easter songs (if he did, the family would've played it to death during my childhood, I assure you). Having brought a child through her first conscious Easter, I know understand why this is so.

First, the haul at Easter is peanuts compared to Christmas. Any one Christmas gift exceeds the cash value of all the Creme Eggs and Peeps you could stomach in a year. In fact, Easter in the secular imagination comes off as just that: a poor man's Christmas. If you don't believe that, then try explaining with a straight face how the hell the Easter Bunny covers the globe delivering baskets full of edible icons of himself, in addition to secreting eggs in couch cushions in the homes of good children everywhere. Dude doesn't even have a sleigh.

Fortunately, my attempts to explain this stuff went right over Baby Genius' head, except for two facts: (1) we get candy; and (2) the Easter Bunny brings it. Unfortunately, Smartass here wasn't satisfied with that. No, he had to try to convey the mystery of the crucifixion to someone who still nods her head to answer a question posed via telephone. As you can expect, this has not gone well, but it has produced some blogworthy results.

Sunday morning--and I mean oh-dark-thirty, not because of Eater but because Siena still hasn't shifted over from Daylight Savings Time--we're up feasting on chocolates, and Mommy hands Siena a small gift bag. It's a little Easter book, given Siena by our dear housemaid, Leticia. Daddy seized this opportunity for another impromptu catechism class, and here's how it went:

"Siena, who gave you that book?"
"Letitha."
"Right! Because Leticia loves you. Who else loves you?
"Mommy."
"Okay. Who else?"
"Daddy."
"Right. And Jesus loves you, too."
"And Dora."

Did she mean to say that Jesus loves Dora? Or that Dora loves her? More importantly, which interpretation would reflect worse on Daddy?

Anyway, Happy Easter, and if you don't know who Dora is (you lucky dog) then check out http://www.nickjr.com/home/shows/dora/index.jhtml.