Why My Family Is Cooler Than Yours – Easter Style

Though I’m in my late twenties, I still haven’t gotten over my love of dying eggs, and luckily my family likes to indulge me. This year was no exception.

Anyone who’s ever dyed Easter eggs knows how hard it is to get them brightly colored. I swear that every year the dye gets less and less potent, and while the Easter holiday may be teeming with pastels, my Easter eggs shouldn't be! Lightly colored eggs might not bother most families, but it absolutely bothers mine. Side note: My family is a tad bit on the competitive side. One Easter we wound up going to Wal-Mart at midnight to procure a second – and then third – box of dye so we could have the very best eggs. Holiday decorations are a contact sport in the Hennessy family. 

However, this year when the brand of egg dye we prefer was nowhere to be found, we were forced to use something substandard. The horror! And it did not go well. The first round came out pale and weak – the Draco Malfoy of eggs. Fortunatly, this time we were prepared. We busted out our box of back-up dye and tried it again, adjusting the ratios of water, vinegar and lemon like mad scientists. And while they didn't come out much better, my mom and I had a terrific time making a mess. (My dad tried to steer clear of the chaos.)

The final product still had a few . . . kinks.

But the fun doesn't stop there. A few years ago my mom, cousin and I saw this picture in a magazine where you add hats, ears and tails to the eggs to turn Easter eggs into Easter bunnies. It’s now become an annual project which we’ve dubbed “Hats Off to You” (named thus for the tiny hats they wear). And due once again to our competitive nature, each year we get a little more creative. So while our eggs started out pretty straight forward, it's evolved into this:

Sadly this year my cousin Allie, who’s away at college, wasn’t able to make it home for Easter. We decided that my mom and I would dye the eggs ourselves, but wait to decorate them until she got home for the summer. Still, that didn’t stop us from strategizing . . .

And that, dear readers, is why my family is cooler than yours. Hope you all had a happy Easter (or Passover) and see you tomorrow for the letter "H" in the Blogging from A-Z Challenge.