A No Kidding Long Weekend

It's the last day of Easter. Tomorrow everyone goes back to work, except those in education, who historically get another day off. The country has been on holiday.  

My sister-in-law posted a photo of a big gathering at her house – her kids and friends kids all together. She loves to entertain, and as she rightly said, her house is a great party house. I had a little twinge, I will admit. But in a few years, all her kids will have left home. She’ll probably still throw parties - who needs kids to do that? These days, most parents I know have kids who are grown, and living far afield. Their Easters will have been quiet too. Most of us don’t have parents around anymore. Many of us don’t have siblings or other relatives in this same town, where so many migrate to work, and then stay. So we spend the time alone, or with friends, as we might otherwise spend any weekend. So it’s all about maintaining perspective. 

Yes, I have a few close friends whose families still live around them, and they spend public holidays together. But most of us make do. Some years we might travel to see family. But most years we stay at home and undertake house maintenance (Easter is a huge gardening time in NZ!), some years we might meet friends for dinner, other years we curl up and read. Some years we do all of the above!

I mentioned a nice meal I was making. “Just for you and Mr Mali?” another sister-in-law asked. “It’s only ever me and Mr Mali,” was my response, “so if we want to eat a roast dinner we do it.” And damn good it was too!

That’s how we spent our Easter. I made only four little Easter eggs, because that’s all we needed. We’ve been out for coffee and done some furniture window shopping. I’ve cooked up a storm, and chilled out on the couch watching a Midsomer Murderathon on one of the cable channels here. It’s so dark in the mornings now, we’ve been sleeping in longer. I started a furniture covering which I’m hoping to make progress on after I’ve written this. I’ve been on a walk this morning. It was a normal, No Kidding, long weekend. And it has been lovely. There’s nothing wrong with that.