Shrove Tuesday

My 2 younger grandchildren are being brought up as Christians but not Catholic. I respect my daughter's wishes although the situation saddens me more than I can say.
But yesterday we brought a little Catholicism into their lives: we had pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. They remembered it from last year and were madly excited, devising as many toppings as they could think of;maple syrup, apple syrup, orange and brown sugar, chocolate chips, and sliced banana and peaches. They also persuaded Alex to make the drink he'd made for them last year which they called Spider but which was really icecream soda.

Alex explained why we have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday as a way of eating up all the goodies before Lent. They were a bit baffled by Lent but looked forward eagerly to the end of it when we have Easter Eggs. We don't usually give them lollies except when they go home and then they allowed 2 each. We explained that to give them an idea of Lent they would only get ONE lolly each during Lent. They were not keen on that but accepted it. It made me realise that modern children (not Catholic ones we hope) get all the rewards (Christmas and Easter) but not the challenges of Advent or Lent. They miss so much.