Today is Shrove Tuesday and that's become a big day in our family. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent. It is a time for a bit of indulgence just before a season of penitence. We focus a lot on Lent in our family, which is a wonderful way to really appreciate Easter (more about that to come in future weeks). So it makes sense that we also celebrate this day that precedes Lent. It is especially fitting because Shrove Tuesday is traditionally celebrated by eating pancakes and we love pancakes.
We were so excited this year because the Knights of Columbus chapter at our parish planned to host a pancake dinner for Shrove Tuesday. Many of our friends planned to attend and we looked forward to marking this special day as a community. But then the snow came and the pancake dinner had to be cancelled. So our pancake dinner had to become a family affair once again.
Our celebrating began in the afternoon. We had a play date and the kids made mardi gras masks.
We couldn't get the masks tight enough so the kids were walking around with their heads in this strange uptilted position to keep the masks on.
After our friends returned home, the meal preparation began. Meg had asked earlier in the day if we could have Belgian waffles as well as pancakes. I liked the idea because we often have Belgian waffles for Easter brunch. I thought it nice symbolism to mark both Shrove Tuesday and Easter with Belgian waffles. Meg decided she would mix the waffles and Clare would mix the pancakes.
After the girls go to bed, my husband and I will continue our Shrove Tuesday celebration with our annual viewing of Chocolat. I know some people consider this movie anti-Lent and would think it strange that we observers of Lent would watch it. However, we enjoy laughingly noting the similarities between my husband and the Comte during Lent (yes, one of these Easter's we will find my husband passed out in a window display of chocolate).
With that Shrove Tuesday will end and Lent will begin.
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