Who believes in the Easter Bunny?

[Siera]

So DH asked me today if I had put together DD's easter basket yet from the Easter Bunny (she's 10 months). I just kinda looked at him like he was joking, but he was very serious. In his family, every Easter, his parents put together a basket of candy and toys and then told him it was from the Easter bunny. My family, needless to say, never did this and I never believed in the Easter bunny. Sure I went on Easter egg hunts, but I knew adults had placed the eggs there, not some bunny. Well, he believed in the Easter bunny and thought it was a great thing and that we should lead our DD to believe there is an Easter bunny. I've never heard of this before? Anyone else? Anyone else tell their kids there's an Easter bunny and give baskets likes this? Note: please don't flame me; I seriously have never heard of this before and am very curious if other families do this! I personally do not like the idea of lying to DD about a bunny at Easter. I never thought anyone took the Easter bunny seriously. Like, I know lots of kids who believe in Santa Claus, but the Easter bunny??

[amydidit]

Both my family and DH's family growing up played *Easter Bunny*. We both loved it. It's so fun to grow up with those fantasies. So now we make baskets for our DD's. even DD1 who is almost 13. She knows the Easter Bunny isn't real. But she enjoys playing along so DD2 doesn't find out yet. DD2 knows the eggs for the hunt are hidden by adults, but that's because the Easter Bunny is SO busy delivering baskets to all the kids that he doesn't have time to hide eggs everywhere too.

I can't imagine growing up without the Easter Bunny, and all other fantasies like that. We believe in Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, tooth fairy, etc.

[AAK]

We do it. The EB is much smaller scale than Santa is. We set out a basket for the kids from the "Easter Bunny". DH hides eggs. It is fun. I like it better than Santa actually because the kids aren't asking the EB for anything. There isn't a wish list, we don't "visit" with him or write letters.

Our baskets usually contain stuff for spring/summer. Like seed, buckets, shovels, sidewalk chalk, etc. Your dd is little, maybe a stuffed animal, bucket (the bucket can be the basket), swimsuit, new book that is spring themed? We do include a choc. bunny, but that is it for the candy. Grandma has little restraint, and we don't want too much.

A friend also set out an EB basket, called it the Easter Bunny present, but never lied. When her dd asked who the EB was, she said that they were. It was a fun game. They continued even after her kids "knew".

If you don't let it get too big, it can be fun.

Amy

[Siera]

Wow, thanks for the good info! I never knew anyone did this. I feel so lost! I like the suggestion of filling it with things for spring time.

[Starflower]

My DD is almost 6 years old. We do the Easter basket thing and stockings because it's fun and they were family traditions. I asked her when she lost her tooth if she thought the tooth fairy would come. She said yes, but that the fairy is just us.

What I find really funny is that DD says that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are really just parents, but she says that she believes Santa Claus is a real person.

We had mixed feelings about doing the imaginary holiday visitor things, but her grandparents have put in the idea of Santa and the others, plus there is a cultural component. We haven't really tried to sway DD one way or the other. We tend to be very logical with DD so I suspect she knows the truth about Santa but enjoys the idea of him.

As for Easter, DD picked out a basket and I got some stuff to put in it. We dyed some eggs - she really wanted to do that and we'll hide them in the morning. After she finds them all, she'll probably ask us to hide them again so she can find them again. She's still very excited about it all.

[maryeb]

I grew up with the Easter Bunny, my parents hid baskets of eggs with chocolates, etc. in them, even when I was in college! We don't celebrate that way though (I was raised Catholic but am not practicing). This year I made chocolates and stuffed some plastic eggs with them and hid them around the yard on the first day of spring. Ds had a blast filling his basket up, he even hid a bunch himself just for fun. It was cute.

[expecting-joy]

I couldn't do it. I just couldn't lie to my kids. My parents played the game, but I never believed in either, maybe partly b/c I had older siblings, but I doubt it. People didn't easily get one over on me.

[Boot]

Where are you from? In my experience the Easter bunny or hare is pretty universal so I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. I've lived in the States and Canada and I'm from the UK. In my childhood tradition we didn't get baskets but we did hunt for eggs that the EAster bunny had hidden. It was magical.

DS is 2 and I'm going to adopt the North American basket idea AND probably a hunt too when he is older. I'm big into festivals though.

Just out of curiosity, will you also opt out of Santa?

[octobermom]

Both I can't remember ever truly believing an an actual Easter bunny but we always go baskets on Easter morning and I was always Suprised .. FOr some reason we expected stuff under the tree at Christmas (same really always knew no Santa) but for some reason Easter always turned out a suprise. DD gets an easter basket shes is aware mommy is the bunny..

Deanna

[kiara7]

I could never understand what bunny had to do with Easter eggs when I was a kid. I asked my mom once if Easter bunny stole the eggs from the hens, lol .

[BunnySlippers]

Dd and I play 'easter bunny'
She is 6 and we swap years over the easter hunt. When I do the hunt, the stuff is a surprise to dd. When she does the hunt, she does the shopping, but I pay for it and I generally know what she is buying.

This year it is my turn to hide the gifts and chocolate. Dd prefers to be the hider, she really gets a kick out of pretending to be the bunny and having me search all over

[~PurityLake~]

Oestara This link explains the bunny part in spring, although not exactly why rabbits have eggs. That part always confused me, too.

Eggs,

a potent symbol of fertility, figured in pagan spring worship long before their appropriation by the Christian Easter. Ukrainian pysanky, blown eggs with patterns drawn in wax and dyed, are pagan amulets for fertility, prosperity and protection. Pysanky have come to us basically unchanged in form from the hunter-gatherers of Eastern Europe.

Wiki explanation of the Easter Egg tradition.

And it seems the fertility of the Rabbit is what linked it to the egg, a symbol of fertility.

Although, after this bit of research I just did, I'm still not sure how we decided to blend the fertile rabbit with the egg.

More relevant:

Easter Bunny:

The claim is that Hare and Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.

Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of extreme antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.

Bunnies laying eggs?

The German and Amish legends were most likely rooted in European folklore about hares' eggs [8] which seems to have been a confusion between hares raising their young at ground level and the finding of plovers' nests nearby, abandoned by the adult birds to distract predators. Hares use a hollow called a form rather than a burrow. Lapwings nest on the same sort of ground, and their nests look very similar to hare forms. So in the Spring, eggs would be found in what looked like hare forms, giving rise to the belief that the hare laid eggs in the spring.

[VisionaryMom]

Where I grew up, people took pictures with the Easter bunny, and someone would come to community hunts in a costume. That's it. I don't know anyone who believed in the Easter bunny or thought he'd left their baskets on Easter morning. My mom would pick up a couple of candies for us, but we didn't do the enormous baskets I see in stores.

We don't give DD and DS baskets. They did have an egg hunt at preschool, and we're going to a friend's for an egg hunt tomorrow. There's really been no mention of an Easter bunny. When we decided not to do Santa/Easter bunny/etc., I thought it would be incredibly difficult to escape the cultural expectation of those traditions. I've actually found it's not hard at all. My children have never asked about the Easter bunny, for example, though one of their teachers dressed in costume at school. I think they view it more as fun at school, but they've never asked if we're going to do it.

[rahans]

I grew up in Ireland and the Easter bunny mustn't go there! We (or nobody we knew) did not get a visit from the Easter Bunny. I only found out about him a few years ago when my friends here had kids. We got yummy chocolate Easter eggs from our parents (nothing like the stuff they sell here). This is the 1st yr I am doing something for my 2 & 4 yr old - and only doing it b/c my 4yo has mentioned it. So I bought a white choco Lindt bunny for each of them and put it on their chair for tomorrow morning. I'll let them decide how they got there! On the other hand, Santa is huge for us and I believed in him until I was 12 1/2!

[LiamnEmma]

We always colored eggs when I was a kid and I always knew my parents hid them. We didn't get baskets. It was just a fun tradition. I give my kids small baskets and I hide eggs but I've never mentioned the Easter Bunny to them. Last year ds mentioned that he noticed I was the Easter Bunny because he'd seen the candy wrappers in the trash. I was a little surprised that he'd believed in the first place. So today he says to me (he is the older one, so I think his point is kind of about his sister), "So you're going to hide all the stuff tonight right?" I was a little surprised, but I guess since I knew and liked it anyway, why wouldn't he too? Plus I'm getting the idea that dd believes in the Easter Bunny.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by rahans

I grew up in Ireland and the Easter bunny mustn't go there!

We lived in Scotland when I was 4-6 years old. My parents became close friends (and still are ) with a local family. We always went to the easter egg hunt they had on their large farm, and once we visited a family who hid eggs in their yard, but no easter bunny visits. Not until we returned to the states, did my parents begin the easter bunny tradition. They had us leave out a plate of carrots for the bunny (like people leave cookies for santa) and they would nibble the carrots for us to find them in the morning. They also used to hide our easter baskets, then just put them on the table as we got older. I hated the hiding, as well, as they giggled. I always felt I was being laughed at and picked on when I never found my basket as fast as my siblings could.

[angie7]

I was lead to believe in everything when I was kid from santa to the easter bunny even the tooth fairy My twins are 3 and I haven't told them anything about anything. My mom is huge into the holidays and I'm just not. I don't want them to believe that a fat man in a red suit sits around and watches to see if they've been naughty or nice and having a giant bunny hiding eggs in your yard and leaves a basket full of goodies just sounds creepy to me!

[Siera]

I'm from Texas and I've heard of the Easter Bunny. My question was more about who was raised to "believe" in the bunny and who received baskets. I knew all about him, went on egg hunts, colored Easter eggs, etc, but never was told by my parents that there was a real bunny spreading eggs everywhere nor did they give me a basket as a gift from the bunny! My husband is from Texas, too, but he was given baskets on Easter and told by his parents that the Easter bunny gave them to him. That's why I posted the original question! I wasn't told there was a Santa Claus either, but DH was. Now, we celebrated Christmas and my dad always told me he was the "spirit of Christmas". We haven't opted out of Santa, but I don't agree with DH telling her that there is one who leaves her gifts. My feelings tend to be same regarding the Easter Bunny.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by Siera

My question was more about who was raised to "believe" in the bunny and who received baskets. I knew all about him, went on egg hunts, colored Easter eggs, etc, but never was told by my parents that there was a real bunny spreading eggs everywhere nor did they give me a basket as a gift from the bunny!

Yes, we were raised to 'believe' the easter bunny was real and hopped all over giving out eggs for children. And I didn't believe it, ever. but then, I also didn't believe in santa, or the tooth fairy, or god.

[Boot]

Originally Posted by Siera

I knew all about him, went on egg hunts, colored Easter eggs, etc, but never was told by my parents that there was a real bunny spreading eggs everywhere nor did they give me a basket as a gift from the bunny!

Sorry, I misunderstood your OP. I actually didn't know 'all about him'. I never saw cutesy pictures of bunnies or had bunny shaped chocolate or anything. It was all very simple and uncommercial. On Easter morning, there were beautiful, shiny wrapped eggs hidden in the garden which had been left by the Easter bunny/ hare. It was really magical. My image of the Easter bunny was of a real wild rabbit. We used to try to spot him. I do remember that when we were in the States it was a lot more commercial however.

Not sure if you're looking for advise, but as your lo is so young how about deferring the decision and just giving her a small basket for fun. She might make her own decision later anyway!