It went suprisingly well (my "saying no to Easter")  

Nice to hear you had a good day. It's good to see your family step up and take the lead on things. Eventually the kids do grow up and you're pleasantly surprised to see they're not demons from h3ll after all. I'm glad you had a nice day.

It seems that it is too easy for us to remember ourselves and our own needs when we try to please everyone else...then we bury our own desires and needs, and they fester and burn beneath these "acts of kindness" for others that we find ourselves resenting... I preach to the choir here, but yours is a great post, at least subtly, about there being a point where we must say "yes" against our fears, and where we must say "no" against willingness to please others even when it means smothering ourselves.
cheerio.
DR...

Hi miamilady! That is such great news! I am so glad that you
were able to enjoy your Easter for a change! And it is wonderful
that you get to pass on the torch too! It is time for someone
else to take over your "job"! lol So just enjoy it and don't
be afraid to say no anymore! It worked out fine and everyone
enjoyed themselves, especially you!

wow that is so wonderful that your family came through for you like that. Mine would just let me alone, and go and do their own thing.

hi miamilady I think its great that you stood your ground on this and said no to being the one who does all these Easter Preparations for the whole bunch of family. It reminds me of my own childhood days when for Grannys Sake the extended family popped in at Easter and Christmas and numerous Sundays a year and my mother and me were the one baking and preparing and what not ever like mad and they just sat there and had a great time (as I am no family person at all I felt bored bored and more bored).
So now being an adult of 47 (yeeeeeah) and having moved a distance of a 3,5 hours drive from my mothers place and gotten married as well (cheeeeeeer) that means finally its MY and OUR decision of how to use weekends and celebrate Easter and other holidays. We are still in the process of finding our own traditions for these times and so far its going great here. No pressure, no family boredom.

That's AWESOME!!! It looks like you were able to smoothly pass the baton on this one. There may come a time in the future when you want to be more active in it again, but for now just sit back and relax - enjoy!

When I read your first discussion on this...it seemed to me like Easter, was for you ..... like all the stress of the Xmas season! I was truly proud of you, and taking back your life, and making Easter the enjoyable family time that it was meant to be! Congratulations, I'll bet this is the first time, in a truly long time you truly enjoyed it! Cheers!

I am glad you had a good day.

That's just great, my friend. Now, wouldn't it be nice if your family agreed to all muck in and share the responsibilities each year, and even take turns at inviting you all to their individual homes. That's something to work on, and you could get into the basket making with your kids too. It's so much more fun when everybody pitches in and thus avoid heaping the stress all onto one person.

Brightest Blessings.

I'm a bit disappointed and feel like telling my family not to come visit again. It costs me a fortune even though they contribute a little with food. My daughter said this time AND at Christmas that she'd give me some cash to help out but not only didn't she do that...I shouted them all lunch when we were out on Saturday!!! I ask them to bring their towels to save me the washing, they usually have sleeping bags to sleep in. This time, they left the sleeping bags on the floor and my daughter forgot her towel but remembered the kids...she used my 3 biggest towels while she was here. I washed all day today and still have all the sheets to do. The kids let the dog onto their beds so the blankets and covers will need to be washed as well. There was rubbish left in all the rooms and cups. The beds were not made and the bedding left on the floor. DVDs were left lying around, not returned to their case, rubbish stacked all over the kitchen instead of out in the bins. The kids do no work and my daughter caters to their every whim. My Easter Lunch turned into dinner because she preferred it that way. She left early Monday and I haven't heard from them since. I'm still cranky. Tomorrow I have to go shopping for all the things I ran out of while they were here.. Gosh, this turned into a rant didn't it?