Whether you focus on the religious celebration or the joy of Spring, to many families Easter is a holiday steeped in important traditions.
But just like with other holidays, establishing those can be tricky when you don’t spend year after year in the same place -- or even with your spouse. You can’t attend the Easter Sunday service at the same church every year, go to the same community egg hunt or rely on Daddy to read the Easter story out loud to the kids.
So what can you do to make sure your military family has some real, mobile Easter traditions? Here are some ideas:
Attend church on base. Most military bases are home to both a Catholic and a Protestant congregation, and all of them hold Easter services. If you don’t have a go-to church in town and you want to attend a religious Easter celebration, hit up the service on base.
Look to your community for Easter Egg hunts. Many bases will host their own military family Easter egg hunts – but plenty of local community groups or churches would love to have you drop into theirs, too. Bonus: this could be a prime opportunity to make some new friends!
Move Easter Brunch to a different day – or make it yourself. Depending on the part of the country you find yourself in, the concept of Easter Brunch may be, well, foreign. In this area on Tennessee, for example, most restaurants are closed every Sunday as a matter of course. Easter Sunday is absolutely no exception. If the food of Easter is your favorite part, consider having brunch on Saturday instead. Doesn’t sound good? Make preparation a family affair and eat at home. Here is a great collection of Easter brunch recipes.
Keep pack-and-go traditions. Family traditions don’t have to be tied to a location. Family egg dyeing, Easter dinner, a reading of the Easter story and the filling of Easter baskets are all things that go where you are. So enjoy the change of scenery and don't let that PCS keep you down.
What are your favorite Easter traditions and how do you make sure they are portable?
