Family Daze: Easter Basket Case

I love Easter morning. It’s the only time my children look below their

knees and actually bend over to pick something up. I usually spend

days boiling, dying, and hiding dozens of eggs around the house under

various pieces of furniture. Unfortunately, my children’s excitement

wears off shortly after retrieving them.

This year I wanted to try a new activity where I didn’t have to eat

"nature’s perfect food" for every meal until Memorial Day. So I looked

for this month’s edition of "The Perfect Parent" that I had stuffed

into the oven, along with the extra shoe boxes and junk mail. I found

it and quickly turned to the holiday tips section, hoping to get some

creative ideas for a family Easter experience.

The first article suggested piercing raw Easter egg shells with a pin,

blowing out the inside, and painting miniature spring scenes with a

Q-tip inside of the hollow shell. I ruled out this idea since all

of my pins were holding seams together and we hadn’t bought Q-tips since

the time my son inserted them into his nostrils and wouldn’t stop barking

like a walrus.

I kept turning the pages until I found the "Fast, Easy, and Fun" section

for unartistic, tired parents.

A short article suggested filling plastic eggs with special messages

and jellybeans. A picture of a smiling family, joyously ripping open

plastic eggs and reading tiny, uplifting messages accompanied it. It

was perfect.

The night before Easter, I waited until my children went to bed then

I cut strips of paper and spread out a dozen multi-colored eggs on the kitchen table. The article suggested I write "wise, warm, and encouraging"

messages. I thought carefully for a moment then wrote: "You are very

special," "You make me proud," and "I love you." I slipped the notes

into the eggs with a few jellybeans. I couldn’t wait until my children

found them tomorrow morning.

I quickly opened four more eggs. My pen hovered over the paper for

a moment, then I printed: "You are bright" and "Always do your best."

I put the strips inside and stared at the remaining slips of paper.

I tapped my pen on the table then slowly wrote: "Use your own toothbrush"

and "Don’t spit on your brother". I stuffed them into an egg with

extra jellybeans.

I spent ten minutes trying to think of more wise messages to bestow

on my children. After fixing a cup of coffee, alphabetizing my canned

vegetables, and cleaning the lint out of the dryer, all I could come

up with was: "You will prosper" and "Your lucky numbers are 2, 14,

and 7."

I quickly filled the rest of the eggs with jellybeans and hid them around the house so I could get some sleep before tomorrow morning.

The next day my children were excited as I handed them their baskets.

"The Easter Bunny left colored eggs this year with special surprises."

I said.

Within seconds I heard a squeal of delight coming from behind the sofa.

My daughter found an egg. She opened it, tossed the message on the

floor, and popped the jellybeans into her mouth.

My three-year old son returned chewing on a piece of paper. His basket

contained popcorn kernels, two plastic eggs, and a wade of fuzzy gum.

"What a waste of time," I thought. "It would have been more efficient

if I filled the laundry basket with Easter grass and dyed their socks."

Then my daughter picked up her discarded message off the floor.

"What does it say?" she asked.

"I love you."

"Oh." She walked over and handed it to her brother.

I felt proud of my daughter, and proud of myself for helping to create

this moment.

He considered it for a moment, then took the piece of paper, and tossed

it into his mouth.

"It’s not for eating," my daughter cried. "It’s for keeping." Even

though I had to pry open his jaw and fish the paper out with my fingers,

I knew the Easter experiment wasn’t a complete waste of time after all.

***

Contact Debbie Farmer at:

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