Coronavirus Can’t Stop the Easter Bunny

Easter and Family Gatherings in the Year of COVID-19

When I think of Easter, I think of my grandma.

Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Let’s start again.

When I think of Easter, I think of Jesus–and THEN I think of my grandma. I spent many childhood years visiting my grandma Dorothy over Easter. I’d wake up at 5 AM to help her bake gooey pans of cinnamon rolls for the church’s Easter breakfast, attend sunrise services with her, and then gather with the rest of the family to celebrate by eating a giant ham (yes, final answer–when I think of Easter, it goes Jesus, then Grandma, then HAM).

This year, Easter will still have Jesus (and if you fine people don’t pull a “toilet paper panic” on me with the pork products, it will still have ham), but it might not have Grandma.

Don’t panic! Grandma’s fine. But like many families across the world who are dealing with Coronavirus, we’re faced with the dilemma of protecting Grandma’s health and safety or eating ham with her. For those watching at home, Grandma’s health and safety is winning out.

It’s hard. I love family get-togethers. I’m proud that my extended family is still coming together for every major holiday, even though we’re spread across three states now. We’ve talked about how the weather, major shifts in where my cousins move, and spending holidays with our in-laws could impact our future holiday plans, but a pandemic was never thrown into the brainstorm. So now what? If you’re facing the same hard decision between health and ham that we are, here are a few ways you can leverage technology and creativity to keep Easter special for your family.

Get in Some Valuable FaceTime

Now isn’t the time to worry about how you look on camera. Whether you use FaceTime, Skype, or another videoconferencing app, dial up the fam and plan a remote Easter celebration. If I can turn in a spreadsheet remotely, SURELY I can stuff my face with deviled eggs remotely. And, honestly, there are a few perks to having a party over WiFi. You have the option of throwing more than one Easter celebration. We’ll probably chat with both my family and my husband’s family. Our son Finn loves to see everyone, from his great-grandmas to his tiny toddler cousins, and since our Easter usually starts so early, that doesn’t always happen for us. Even with just one family gathering, it can be hard to make time to talk to everyone. Slowing down the conversation to one person at a time might be a great chance to connect with that family member you never get a chance to chat with. Keep accessibility in mind when using videochat. If you have a hard-of-hearing family member, follow up with a text or email so they feel included. And if you’re worried about getting everyone talking (or you think you’ll literally only talk about COVID-19), here are a few conversation starters:

  • If you found a hundred dollar bill in your Easter egg, what would you buy?
  • What’s your favorite Easter memory?
  • What are your favorite book or movie recommendations?
  • What’s your favorite thing about [insert awesome family member here]?
  • Make an Easter candy bracket. Have everyone argue why their favorite is the best. Choose a winner. There can only be one (and it’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs).
Send an Easter Surprise

My mother-in-law is battling cancer, and right now she’s in a care facility. The last thing we want to do is put her and her neighbors at risk by visiting, but we don’t want her to feel alone either. We’ll be enlisting Finn’s love of getting into every mess possible to make a few fun Easter cards for her to keep in her room. Even if you don’t have any family members or friends in care homes, consider sending a couple letters or cards to your local care facilities, regardless of a pandemic. The residents could probably use the smile. Besides handwritten notes, you can also buy a few fun Easter basket gifts to send to your friends and family. You can order pre-made Easter baskets for kids online, or be creative and throw together a “themed” Easter basket for teens and older family members before mailing it off. Everyone loves a good surprise in the mail (especially if it includes chocolate).

Find New Twists on Easter Traditions

Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t keep your favorite Easter traditions. While big Easter egg hunts across the city might be cancelled, hunts in your backyard or throughout your house are still fair game. Here are a few different egg hunt ideas for kids of all ages. If you’ve got teens stuck at home, try hiding clues in Easter eggs that lead them to gift cards they can cash in at their favorite local spots later—that way you’re supporting local businesses and slowing your teen’s growing cabin fever. Beyond the Easter egg hunt, think of new ways to involve your children with decorating and celebrating Easter. If faith is important to your family and you can’t make it to Easter services, consider having your own service at home. My parents would have “church” in our living room when we moved to a new town and didn’t have a place of worship yet. There are a few benefits to doing this on Easter—you get to pick only hymns you enjoy, plus there’s no awkwardly dramatic passion play to sit through. Sorry, pimply teen portraying Jesus. You’ll get your big break next year.

Time-Travel Back to Pre-Pandemic America

OK, maybe this is one piece of technology we don’t have quite yet. But there are a few pieces of Easter and other family celebrations I’ve given up over the years because I didn’t have time. This year, I’m slowing down and introducing Finn to some of the traditions I had in my house growing up. I have so many good memories of my dad, grandma and grandpa playing music at holiday gatherings, but I’ve never taken a moment to really do that with my own family. My mom used to make seasonally-shaped desserts for every holiday, including a sunflower cake at Easter that used Peeps marshmallow candies as the petals. Lemme tell you, I am not normally a seasonally-shaped-cakes type of mom. I am a buy-some-premade-brownies-at-Trader-Joes-and-slap-‘em-on-a-plate type of mom. But there’s no better time than a pandemic to pretend I am the seasonally-shaped-cake mom I have always dreamed of being. Take the gift of time to dye and decorate Pinterest-worthy Easter eggs, make a from-scratch brunch, fly a kite outside, make an intricate sidewalk chalk masterpiece, or bring back a different favorite tradition from your youth. Make sure you take plenty of pictures to send to the family members who originally made these moments special for you.

It’s been years since I’ve woken up at 5 AM with Grandma to bake cinnamon rolls. Her church now provides donuts and a catered breakfast, and who are we to turn down free donuts? But this year, I’m making cinnamon rolls. I’m going to hand a spatula of cream cheese icing to Finn and let him go to town. I’m going to send a video of him inevitably spreading the icing all over himself to the rest of my family. And I’m going to eat that warm, gooey cinnamon roll while I think about everything that makes Easter special for me, no matter where I am—Jesus, Grandma, and ham. Definitely ham.

Valerie Stark
A firm believer that the Midwest is all that and a tator tot casserole, Valerie moved to KC after graduating from Mizzou in 2013. She’s been married to her husband Josh since 2015, and together they’re raising two adorable, tiny human fireworks: a preschooler named Finnian and baby Olliver. Valerie spends her workdays making greeting cards while Josh wins at the stay-at-home-dad game by teaching the Stark brothers words like “yee-haw” and going on field trips for Costco rotisserie chicken. When she isn’t tracking down a new place to drag her family to, you can find her blasting showtunes, sharing (very poorly) wine with friends, reading, listening to true crime podcasts, or near cheese. You can’t find her playing kickball, so don’t even try. Valerie, Josh, Finn, and Ollie shoot for put-together, but settle for put-on-pants—and they love every second of their reasonably-chaotic life.