At Christmastime, Santa does his best to distribute an equal bundle of loot to each of the good boys and girls in a household.
Easter is a whole other story.
My mother didn't dare take us to those public Easter egg hunts—where kids happily search on common ground for the little plastic goodies. Our egg hunts were held privately in the backyard (but inside too because we were pretty loud).
She knew that if she unleashed her little beasts disguised in their matching polo’s and side parts, not only would her daughters be subjected to the violent, competitive holiday game, but other people's kids would be too.
After years of seeing the boys dominate the backyard before the older, less coordinated (me) sister had a chance to get in the mix, my mom developed a system to ensure her four kids all felt the same love and could achieve the same sugar highs. Our eggs were labeled and color-coded, and the girls were safe and happy.
Do your kids compete for eggs? How do you regulate? Have you to had to implement the label system yet? Do you anticipate having to? Do your kids just not care as much? Are a couple of them old enough to know the drill?
Pam Kelleher
1:33 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
We have fun and the kids know when their basket is full. I do hide some special eggs with an X on them. You can only find one of those. My kids are pretty nIce to each other. We do it outside unless it is raining but they need the outdoors so there is more difficult hiding places for their age.
Tammy Hirsch
2:35 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
This time of year I start to tense up with the thought of the dreaded hunt. When my oldest was 2, I took him to a public hunt and event though it was just for a certain age group- there was a lot of DRAMA! Crying and hysteria because he couldn't get to the eggs fast enough, the other toddlers were pushing him. He just wasn't meant for the fast-paced world of the Easter Egg Hunt. I have attended hunts in the past where they only let the group get two or three eggs at a time and would make everyone "freeze" before letting them continue to get more eggs. This approach seemed to work for the "less aggressive " in my group. Fewer tears and a guaranteed minimum amount of bounty as well. However, we could talk about how the Easter Egg hunt is a metaphor for life but right now, I am more inclined to make it drama free for the wee folk.
Samantha Liss
3:14 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tammy, that is absolutely hilarious! I honestly can't remember ever fighting for eggs but I have about seven years on my younger brother, so he may have a different take ;)
AnnMarie Gubenko
6:21 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
We do ours inside. Since I have four kids, each child has a section of the house to hunt for eggs. In case of confusion, their initials are also on the eggs. I have never done the public hunts for the very reason Tammy stated. I try to limit the drama since we make enough on our own.This year Gia, who is 1, will be part of looking. I think the older kids are more excited about her looking for eggs than they are about their own eggs. I hope she doesn't disappoint them by having no interest. My kids have never fought over eggs. Come to think of it, it is the only thing my kids don't fight over.
Julie Farrell
10:53 am on Thursday, April 21, 2011
That's hysterical, Tammy!
Samantha, I don't remember ever fighting over eggs, either....maybe that's 'cuz my mom always made sure our baskets were chock full of sugar, so we were usually happy with whatever we ended up with. To us, the hunt wasn't about the candy or the spare change, it was about the hunt itself. My sister (3.5 years older than me) even used to help me find them when I would get upset that she was SOO much further than I.
As for my kids, every year when we get home from church I make them hang out in the hallway for a few minutes. Then I head to the fridge and hide the eggs they'd previously colored. I tell them I have to make sure the bunny finished hiding everything properly. They each get an egg carton and are only allowed to find 12 eggs. It seems to work out well for us. If my older one finishes first, she has no problem helping my younger one figure out where hers are. I think I have a harder time remembering where I put them all than they do finding them!
This year my mom wants to do something with all of her grandkids, so she bought some plastic eggs to fill with candy. Each child will have a particular color (like your childhood system, Charlotte) to hunt for. Since my sister's place is off-limits atm (long story), we'll be doing this at my two-bedroom apartment. I think we'll use the front yard since there's no backyard & the kids are all old enough to stay away from the street.