It's easy to be well behaved when...A vent and discussion. - Page 2

[4Marmalade]

Oh my!

I can't believe the same thing has happened to so many people. We went to an easter egg hunt too this weekend. They had different age groups and my son was in the 3-4 year old one. We were about 5 minutes late and when we got there ds managed to get about 5 eggs. I was appalled at the number of eggs some kids had in their baskets! Some easily carried 100 and needed to be carried by the parents. Ds was perfectly happy with 5 eggs (as was I) but there was no talk from anyone else about leaving some for the other kids, not needing so many, etc... I was pretty disappointed and I doubt we will go back. Ds was too bewildered with all the activity and I can only imagine it would get worse as he got older.

[joesmom]

That's the whole thing- I LOVE seeing kids excited, & parents excited for their kids- it is when it crosses the line to pure greed- & I KNOW if Joe's cousin had not been there, no one else would have offered him any eggs... people are just too, too greedy.

[Pookietooth]

We had that problem too, and this year, ds didn't do an egg hunt for that reason -- he cried when we were a few minutes late and all that was left on the ground was some opened eggs and candy wrappers. Later on they brought out some more and he got a few, but it was really lame, they just tossed them out in front of him. He's not doing sugar this year, anyway, so we just had an egg hunt at home.

[PikkuMyy]

Whew! Glad to have the warning never to take my future kids to an egg hunt! We're vegan anyway, so we would only do a fake-egg hunt, but OMG!!! I can't believe how similar all the stories are!

We had an egg hunt every year when I was a child - in my backyard. And there were only about 6 kids participating so everyone was calm and it was fair for all.

At the birthday parties of the kids I care for, we do a themed hunt each year that matches the theme of the birthday party (it's at home and all hand-made). Everyone gets a piece of paper showing drawn pictures of all the items that are hidden and when they are all found and in the treasure cauldron, everyone gets the same prize.

[MelMel]

there was a very small egg hunt in the community i live in, just about 10 kids. my 5 month old sat playing with a bright pink egg and a purple one. He wasnt gunna eat the candy or anything but he was having so much fun pushing them between his hands and gnawing on them, pushing them out of the way them crawling to reach them again....so so cute. well, I couldnt believe it but this 7 ish year old girl came up and took the eggs from him!!!!! it was so ridiculous i just laughed and laughed. i almost peed myself. my dh came over and asked what was wrong (he thought i was crying because my eyes were so red, loL) and i told him he chuckled and gave ds some of dd's eggs to play with...and I guarded those like a hawk.

[sohj]

IdentityCrisisMama, this is exactly why I try to stay away from a whole lot of parent-child events until I get to vet them w/o the pixie there. I totally agree. My mother (who wasn't exactly a saint, but she was definately well-behaved if you only knew her superficially in a typical social setting) always said that the true test of someone's behaviour was what they would do when either they thought no one was looking or when they were overwrought.

I think that in that situation, I'd probably have backed off a bit, asked my little one if he was having a good time and offered, if he wasn't, to go and do something like this on our own or with another friend...like setting it up at our place for just a couple of friends.

Originally Posted by IdentityCrisisMama

Isn't it in times like these that really matter?

[Fuamami]

Wow! People are so crazy, over the wierdest stuff. I'm going to avoid EEHunts, too, now.

We had a non-Easter related experience like this last night. We went out to dinner and they were very slow, and then brought us the wrong food, and then when they finally brought our food they basically ignored us. Ds started yelling, not crying, but just loudly asking to get down, and I was trying to get everything bundled up and get our check while dh took dd to the restroom. When they FINALLY brought us our check and we could leave, ds had probably been making noise for about 10 minutes, on and off, intermittent "Dah, dah, dah!" I took him out, and then after dh paid he and dd walked out. As they walked past the booth behind us, a teenage boy said sarcastically, "Thanks a lot, it's been a real pleasure dining with you."

Dh was so livid, but I told him he modeled good manners by not losing it. I was glad he didn't chew him out, dd would have been appalled, no doubt. I don't know if I could have maintained my composure.

[EmmaJean]

Originally Posted by annekevdbroek

Meanwhile there was tons of pushing, yelling, snatching, and general bad-sprits over plastic eggs filled with a few cents worth of candy

In Alabama, they actually put MONEY in the eggs!!! Crazy, right?! I was surprised at the hunt my ILs neighbor's had. It was all super fun and the kids were so sweet. But I had never seen money eggs or "prize" eggs, etc... And no REAL eggs either! That's all we ever had as kids.... I guess they don't do that anymore???

Glad we didn't participate in anything "Easter" other than our awesome church service on Sunday. We also did a family activity at home making special cookies, but that's for another thread--and forum, I suppose!!

Sorry for the horrible experiences. Kids and parents can be crazy!!! Some people just go NUTS for ANY competition, and I don't get it at all. I have almost zero competitive spirit so that has something to do w/ it....

[Teensy]

Tip for any future class moms or Easter Egg hunt planners (for small groups) - In my sons preschool they write each childs name on 12 eggs before hiding them (non readers could also have a shape or sticker to look for). The children hunt for their hidden eggs. It makes the hunt last longer and encourages cooperation (Hey Morgan! I found one of your eggs! It's over here!). It also lets kids find appropriate items in their eggs (no peanut butter for the allergic child, etc.).

This obviously wouldn't work for large, city wide hunts - but is nice for smaller, planner settings.

[BlueStateMama]

Note to self..avoid easter egg hunts like the plague:

[TortelliniMama]

Originally Posted by Teensy

Tip for any future class moms or Easter Egg hunt planners (for small groups) - In my sons preschool they write each childs name on 12 eggs before hiding them (non readers could also have a shape or sticker to look for). The children hunt for their hidden eggs. It makes the hunt last longer and encourages cooperation (Hey Morgan! I found one of your eggs! It's over here!). It also lets kids find appropriate items in their eggs (no peanut butter for the allergic child, etc.).

This brought back memories of a neighborhood egg-hunt one of our neighbors did when I was a kid. She was like a grandmother to the entire neighborhood. Anyway, it was a very short hunt, because everyone only got one egg. (You could do it with more, though.) Each egg had a numbered slip of paper inside. You took it up to her porch and she looked at her list of prizes (very top-secret; we couldn't see the list) to see what you got. It wasn't for a couple of years at least that I realized that the list of prizes wasn't actually by number. It was by name. She had a specific thing picked out for each of us. That way, the little kids didn't get chokeable stuff, etc. It was really pretty creative!

[aliah79]

I love the ideas about a color for each child or their name/shape on them... good ideas.

I just wanted to add my story! LOL We took our 2yo to an egg hunt at a local store here. It was divided up into ages...his was 2-3 years old and there were 3 kids in that age group. They hid the eggs down the candy/cereal/baby isle (good marketing eh?). Before we even get to the isle, this one little kid's THREE ADULTS start running down the isle grabbing eggs. My poor ds didn't even know what was going on...dh picked up one egg and was showing it to him and how to put it in his basket...and by the time my son picked up his second egg...the isle was picked clean by these adults. Luckily, I had been standing up against the isle on one side the whole time and when I moved, there were a few more eggs there that ds got to pick up. Of course I didn't care if he got the most eggs or not...but this was for the KIDS... the kid with the three adults got 41 eggs, my son got 6. It just really upset me that these adults were grabbing all the eggs and leaving none for the other kids, kwim? And THREE adults? why not just one? The grabbing and greediness just really turned me off. I know I shouldn't be surprised... I just wanted the kids to have a good time and watching them get pushed out of the way and no eggs left for them left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't think we'll be doing that again...we'll just hide eggs here at home or with our playgroup....

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Thanks, mamas and I'm sorry to hear about so many unpleasant holiday events. I don't know about all of you but I am relieved that it's actually much easier for me to behave well when other people aren't. It's like a direct message to my brain of how not to act.

I didn't really discuss the issue with DC though and wonder if that was the best choice. She didn't really notice a lot of what was going on and I didn't want to spoil what little fun she had.

I do think that I'll write to the place that hosed the thing because it really has a wonderful reputation and I'd like them to be able to improve that particular class.


Oh and as far as the private egg hunt dilemmas, we always just do the hunt over and over and over. Parents and kids alike as many times as we need so that everyone is satisfied. It's usually like a month long process. When DC hides the eggs she has a seriously difficult time finding them. She could have egg hunts all by herself. I alternate between being really impressed with the power she has over her brain and being a touch concerned. :LOL

[pjlioness]

Originally Posted by BlueStateMama

Note to self..avoid easter egg hunts like the plague:

Same here...and I have wondered here and there if going to a public hunt might be a nice tradition for my guys. Guess not.

We didn't do any when I was a kid, just colored the (real) eggs and ate them over the next few days.

Dh's folks have done a hunt for the boys in their living room the last couple of years. It's kinda fun, though neither of them really "get it" yet, esp. Robert. Unfortunately, the gifts, as usual, are mainly junky stuff we avoid, but oh well.

[pjlioness]

Originally Posted by TortelliniMama

This brought back memories of a neighborhood egg-hunt one of our neighbors did when I was a kid. She was like a grandmother to the entire neighborhood. Anyway, it was a very short hunt, because everyone only got one egg. (You could do it with more, though.) Each egg had a numbered slip of paper inside. You took it up to her porch and she looked at her list of prizes (very top-secret; we couldn't see the list) to see what you got. It wasn't for a couple of years at least that I realized that the list of prizes wasn't actually by number. It was by name. She had a specific thing picked out for each of us. That way, the little kids didn't get chokeable stuff, etc. It was really pretty creative!

Wow, that's really sweet.

[sparkprincess]

Ugh, that's so sad. And really not surprising.

I can't help but wonder if it's not just about the greed either (although I'm sure that's a big part)?? It seems sometimes that parents make it about competition, ie, "Look how many eggs you got, sweetie! WAY more than all the other kids! Look at how full your basket is!" That sort of thing. It seems so many parents feel like they have to prove to everyone that their kids is, indeed, really special or superiour, ya know??

Maybe I'm just a nut though, who knows??