There is a children’s book floating around called The Birthday Queen. In the book by Audrey Wood (whose name sounded familiar, so I discovered she also wrote The Napping House), a young girl has a birthday and the queen is in charge of making it just right. It sparkles and shines and everything about the birthday ends up being perfect. In the end, it ends up being revealed that the “Birthday Queen” is actually, you guessed it-Mom.
In light of Easter (He is risen, indeed!) I can’t help but give a shoutout to the Holiday Queen of our house. You could tell for about two days straight that my house was going to be made to feel like Easter even though we weren’t celebrating it in the state we normally do. I remember a few days before Easter getting a text from my wife while she was at Walmart. “I can get 60 white eggs or none.” She bought the 60.
The Holiday Queen went to work coming up with ways to use them. We had an egg casserole breakfast one morning. The kids dyed more than two dozen of them while I more or less tried to keep the table from getting dyed itself. For as much cooking as took place between Saturday and Sunday, it might be a wonder she only used that many.
When the kids woke up on Easter morning, they had a basket and gift special for them, and the dyed eggs had been mischievously hidden by a bunny. They had enough of that stupid Easter grass to cover 700 square feet. By the way, I have to say this or else I won’t get another chance: If I never see another piece of that stupid fake grass again, I will be a happy man. I told the Holiday Queen Sunday afternoon that it is on the top-ten list of things I irrationally hate. It’s awful. You think you have cleaned it up, but no! There’s another piece! Another! Two more over there! It’s diabolical.
Our Easter meal was amazing. We had ham. We had rolls. The broccoli had so much cheese that it barely tasted like broccoli. The green beans with bacon were amazing as usual. The mashed potatoes were unbelievably creamy. Full disclosure: I did none of it. The Holiday Queen planned it, bought the food, and cooked. She was convinced the meal would be a big part of the normalcy the kids needed on an otherwise very different holiday, and it was.
I keep referring to my wife as the Holiday Queen because it’s not just an Easter thing. She has always been the one who can wrap Christmas presents better, the one who knows just what to get the kids and where to hide it, and the one who makes everything go ’round. This Easter was not the exception-it was pretty much the rule.
So if she reads this (or even if she doesn’t), the Holiday Queen deserves all the credit she can get for making this weekend special for everyone-and then some. Back when we were both teaching in Arizona, she carried a ton of the weight around the house. Ever since I started working here in Ohio and she started staying at home, she has basically carried it all. For someone who has spent his time teaching, coaching, and driving, it has been a great relief to know the kids have such a special mom.
Oh, and next Sunday is my daughter’s birthday. I will help get the house around and ready this time, but I still stink at the sparkles and shines. I guess there really is no rest for the Holiday Queen.