MY SECOND DAUGHTER phoned the other day, just to talk. The conversation turned to Easter, which she will celebrate alone or in a Wisconsin hospital. She’s a Spanish medical interpreter and will be on call on Easter.
“Are you sending me a chocolate bunny?” she asked.
I guess I am now, I thought, then the next day purchased and mailed a chocolate bunny.
That got me thinking about Easter traditions, like the chocolate bunnies we give our kids. And dying eggs. And Easter morning church services. And Easter egg hunts, once a part of extended family Easter dinners, now in the past as we don’t all gather anymore.
Traveling through Madison Lake last weekend, I noticed this sign for an Easter egg hunt.
But many communities still have community Easter egg hunts, like the one held at the Rice County Fairgrounds in Faribault last weekend and the one this morning on the campus of Shattuck-St. Mary’s School.
I remember, as a child, participating once in an Easter egg hunt at the Redwood Falls High School football field several blocks from by grandpa’s house. We searched for hard-boiled dyed eggs, not flimsy plastic orbs manufactured in China. The finders of the few golden eggs each received a dollar bill. The rest of us got, well, boiled eggs. And we were happy.
I heard on the radio yesterday that the city of Richfield had a problem with theft at this year’s egg hunt. Seems the squirrels nabbed some of the eggs.
That does not surprise me. I recall watching a squirrel steal my niece’s pink plastic egg during an Easter egg hunt many years ago. She was practically in tears. Over an egg.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Growing up there was the obligatory basket for each of us but no touching until after church service….then…chocolate all day!!!
Oh, yes, we were up early hunting for baskets before church. Maybe snitched a few bites of candy…
I carried on the hard boiled egg hunt until about 6 years about when Brice flew the coupe….Gavin was ok With that. I miss it though, those traditions are always hard to give up!. I love that you sent your daughter the chocolate bunny, i would of done the same thing. She Loved that you did that for her at home, so I bet she’s missing it !!! You’re such a good mom! Happy Easter Audrey!
Good morning and a most blessed Easter to you, Jackie! I guess a mother never fully realizes the importance of tradition. I try to be a good mom, but know I sometimes fail.
In the interests of non-spoiled eggs being left outside…we’ve gone with the plastic! Plus, we bought a whole bunch a few years ago and we reuse them – I don’t let the kids who come to hunt take the eggs with them – is that cheap of me? Perhaps, but it does save money. 🙂 It costs enough to fill them, I figure!!
Oh, yes, when my extended family used to do Easter egg hunts, plastic eggs were used. Each kid was assigned a specific color so those hiding could hide the eggs in really tough spots for the older kids, easier places for the younger ones. All eggs had to be emptied of candy and returned before departure. Not cheap at all, but smart, to reuse the eggs.
We did the color thing this year for the first time – worked GREAT! We filled each “set” of eggs with exactly the same things – as in, each color/set got four chocolate mini bunnies, three Reeces, etc., and that way not only did everyone get the same thing so they couldn’t fuss that so and so got better stuff, but also they all got the same # so that kids who were better seekers didn’t run away with all the loot! It really worked great! I will definitely do that always now. I laughed, though, when I said, “And everyone got the same stuff,” and the wee girls said, “No we didn’t,” because they were looking at the erasers which were slightly different – thankfully, no one fussed about it!
Colored egg deal always worked great for my family, too. And, yes, that equal treatment thing seems the best way to avoid squabbles also.