Can we talk about Easter?
My children are 3 and 6 and we celebrate Easter as a family. This is a holiday I both love and hate. I celebrate the religious holiday which is meaningful to me. I also celebrate the more secular holiday, but maybe I’m a downer because I think the costumed bunny in the mall is super creepy and I basically hate the chaos of community Easter egg hunts. Most of the time, the eggs aren’t even really hidden! I dislike the plastic waste, the sugar, and the consumerism that has become the primary focus of this day.
I do love time with family, celebrations with my kids, and a real Easter egg hunt in my backyard or inside my house. Making Easter baskets for my children is something I love.
I do try to be Pinteresty, and one year, I filled umbrellas with goodies instead of using traditional Easter baskets. Mom win! I’ve seen super cute alternative basket ideas using rain boots too. You rock Pinterest moms! However, this year we’re back to basics with baskets. I’m skipping the plastic grass and using fabric or paper and I’m treating these baskets kind of like Christmas stockings.
I’m asking myself these four questions before I buy anything to go into my Easter baskets:
- Is this going to annoy me later?
- Is this something I might not otherwise buy?
- Are my children interested in this?
- Do they need this?
Question one keeps most junky toys out of my kids’ Easter baskets.
I know they will discard these items quickly and I’ll be left deciding what to do with them and ultimately hiding them in the trash. Like the year they somehow got a chirping chick toy. I threw it away only to have it start chirping relentlessly at the bottom of the trash. My son kept asking where it was and what that noise was! “Oh that? It’s nothing! What noise?” Then felt guilty for creating more trash.
I was stuck on the question of what small toy I could include in the Easter baskets this year? My children do love wind up toys, but they are typically all plastic and break easily. I did a little research and found some vintage metal wind up toys. I got a pack of four and will split them between my kids.
Question two means I can put gummies and cheddar bunnies in the Easter baskets and my kids will be excited!
We don’t buy these things every week so they still view them as treats. The same goes for new stickers or special pens. I have a reluctant reader and writer at home, and he’s getting special gel pens, a graphic novel, and a comic book notebook for writing his own comics. My daughter loves bath bombs so she’s getting a few of those.
Question three gives me permission to purchase some fun things for my kiddos that they are excited about right now. My son is getting Easter themed LEGO sets and my daughter loves dress up right now so she’s getting a fabric crown. They are also both super interested in gardening. Seed packets and kid-sized tools and gloves would make great additions to their baskets.
Finally, I ask myself, do they need something new?
A new toothbrush? Done! Flip flops or a bathing suit for summer? Perfect for the Easter basket! Headbands and hair ties for my daughter and rain pants for my son are a great choice. I will have to buy these items eventually, so they might as well be gifts. Each kiddo will also get a small chocolate bunny from Snowflake Chocolate and our baskets are good to go!
How do you feel about Easter? What’s in your Easter basket?
