Eid; Then & Now
I have been writing this since after the three days of Eid ended. I keep coming back to it, but I only finished it today. I apologize for not posting regular. I’ve been going through some health issues I will post about soon and I’m still stuck in a writing rut. Today is the 11th day of the month of Shawal. Eid is on the first three days of this month.
As another Eid comes to an end, I sit and remember how we celebrated Eid growing up. In the US, we would go to bed early the night before Eid, wearing new “Eid” pajamas and even new underwear. My mom would set out our new outfits to wear the next morning and she even had a new pair of socks in our shoes waiting. We would be so excited to wake up and see what surprises my mother had prepared for us. Eid morning, we would wake up to festive decorations and plates of candies and homemade cookies and ka’ak (cookies filled with dates) We would find a pile of gifts and a goody bag for each of us in the living room, we would hurry to get dressed and go to Eid prayer and the local community center with the Muslim community. Afterwards we would receive candies and money from the adults. Later we would go to a nearby park and have breakfast with friends. There would be games and gifts for the kids. As much fun as we had, we couldn’t wait to go home and open our gifts from my parents. My mom made Eid so special we never felt left out during any of the non-Muslim holidays, we watched our friends and classmates celebrate Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day but I never wished we celebrated it too. We understood that we didn’t celebrate these holidays and we had our own special holidays.
When we moved back to Saudi Arabia, Eid was different, the first couple of years my mom had two under two so it was difficult for her, moving to a new country with 6 children, helping us get accustomed to a new world and relearn Arabic. Five of us were in school ranging from middle school to the second grade. My 7th sibling was born during Ramadan. So, I understand she wasn’t able to do the same things she did in the states. As we grew older we started adding our own traditions, my sister, who is the oldest, started making a piñata, she’s the one who taught me how to make one after so many trial and errors. We would try to make games and fun activities for Eid. Our cousins would too. We started a tradition of buying each other gifts, it didn’t have to big or expensive it was the thought that counted. We had a lot of fun with that. We always spent the night at my grandfather’s house and woke up early and had breakfast with all my uncles, aunts and cousins. I always loved how full the house got during holidays. Later in the day we would go to my grandmother to celebrate Eid with my mother’s side of the family.
When I married my husband, I started spending Eid with his family. My family don’t live in the same city so it was hard with young children traveling for Eid. I started learning their traditions; we would all go meet at the Eid Mosque, with my two brothers in law and their families and pray together. We would all go back to our house (since we live with my mother in law) We would have breakfast together, it varied then became a tradition to have fresh lamb’s liver for breakfast. After breakfast, the adults and children would take a nap. (Eid prayer is at dawn so it would still be very early in the day) I didn’t always sleep depending on my kids, as they grew older, their cousins would stay to play while the adults when back home to sleep. They would pretend to sleep and sometimes I would manage to get them to sleep a little. It was Eid and I wasn’t too strict with them. Let them have fun! As my kids grew older we started our tradition of Eid parties. It started as a heart shaped piñata painted by my kids and a tray of cupcakes with chocolate Betty Crocker frosting. Then it became themed parties with decorations and food to match the theme. Sometimes even the games matched the them. It was so much fun to plan and decorate with my kids. The parties were always fun for everyone. I’d wait until after lunch, the adults would take a nap, or sit quietly sipping coffee. I’d take the kids and even the girls in high school would join us. We’d play games and break the piñata then we’d take photos in the photo booth I had prepared with my kids and the props I made myself. I tried to have props matching our theme. Finally, we’d take the desserts and snacks we had prepared usually matching our theme downstairs to share with the adults. It was always so much fun. Over the years the older nieces and nephews grew up and got married and now their children enjoy our parties too. I started a new tradition with my daughter last year. It was so much fun we looked for new ideas for this year. Since a lot of the little girls have grown up and our adults, married or in college; we’ve made games for them too. They are such an enthusiastic fun bunch and they make even the simplest games so much fun. I will try my best to add a description of the games and if I have a Pinterest link of the inspiration behind the game I’ll add that too.
I am so grateful for all the Eids I’ve experienced; past and present. I hope I can continue to make Eid fun myself and everyone around me.