Crap from Easters past.
My son is now old enough to enjoy special days, so for Easter, we got our eggs on. No egg-dying kits, just toxic food coloring, white vinegar, hot water, and some crayons. Which is, I believe, what’s in those egg-dying kits.
I wasn’t sure how candy-heavy I wanted to be, so I started looking at what others were doing. According to The Bump's Facebook page, here’s a sample of what people are putting in their kids’ Easter Baskets this year:
- Abby -- For my 7-month old: An outdoor Little Tykes swing (this was the "basket"), swimming trunks, a book, and some Gerber yogurt melts.
- Dallas -- Sippy cup, Sophie the Giraffe, book about Easter, bib, and two other rattle type toys.
- Elizabeth -- Lots of toys and clothes. And a small thing of jelly beans lol
- Maritza -- She's only 10 months old so no candy. Instead she got a new sippy cup, book, bib, a minnie mouse bowl and of course new outfits
- Marlene -- Chalk,bubbles,bath time books,reading books,sippy cup,big boy cup,fruit snacks,small plastic baseball bat and ball.
- Andrea -- Mine is almost 2 so he got 4 mickey mouse movies along with a new shirt and a mickey mouse chair and some gummies and bubbles also got out side toys and more movies from grandparents
Wait, what?! When did the Easter Bunny turn into a Spring Santa Claus?
Note that I am sticking to the secular celebration of the holiday. I have respect for faith, religion, and tradition. I’m not open to debate about whether we should even celebrate the pagan aspect of the holiday. We do, we have, we will, and it’s a joyous co-celebration of Spring, fertility, rebirth, and renewal. If that upsets you, it’s beyond my abilities to console you.
Let’s also skip right by the fact that many of these babies have no understanding of or appreciation for Easter at all, religious or secular. Most of these comments are probably from new parents (The Bump’s primary audience), who are establishing their chosen traditions. And it’s mostly gifts.
When did this start? Am I the only troglodyte who remembers fondly baskets full of candy, at least 20% of which were the kind only my mother liked? Yes, Mom, we always knew. Coconut-filled egg indeed.
I gave it a benefit of a doubt for a minute, though. Candy’s not something we want him hooked on, and it’s an easy hook. So here are pros and cons of putting small gifts in the Easter basket.
Pros of Putting Gifts Instead of Candy in the Kids’ Easter Baskets
- Less sugar in his diet
- No sugar crash
- You don’t have to exercise parental guidance on how much candy to eat at once
- Maybe your husband will get the idea and buy you jewelry to put in your Easter basket some day
Cons of Putting Gifts Instead of Candy in the Kids’ Easter Baskets
- Less candy for me
- You have to shop somewhere besides the grocery store
- Small gifts turn into big gifts over the years, and eventually you’re dishing out some real change
- Fights over gifts
- Impact on planet and people of manufacturing more crap we don’t need in countries with minimal environmental controls and questionable human rights records
- More crap to clean up
- More crap to look at
- More crap to step on
I’m sure the kids will resent us someday when we don’t measure up to their friends’ Easter providers, but we’re not doing the gift thing. We welcome gifts from grandparents, Mom, and will cherish them always and tell them stories through the years of your kindness and generosity. But we’re also respecting your tradition, too, of baskets full of candy and a colored egg hunt.
So here’s this year’s basket: 6 purple peeps, 6 small chocolates that look like bugs. He didn’t like the peeps.
He loved the egg hunt.