Friday, April 17, 2009

Easter Bunny failures

I used to be thrilled with being the Easter Bunny. It was so fun to buy the baskets and find thelittle toys to go in them. I loved seeing the thrilled look on my kids' faces when they woke up when they found their baskets. It was the next best thing to Christmas.
But then they got bigger and the thrill was gone. They weren't as thrilled with the little toys. They like the candy but it doesn't thrill them. They're too old for most of the little toys Iused to get them.
And then of course we're on a severe budget that makes it slightly less thrilling to drop big bucks on jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.
But the real problem has nothing to do with jelly beans or the economy, it has to do with stuffed animals. My kids love stuffed animals despite the fact that they are 9 and 11. But to my husband, those stuffed animals are a sign of their immaturity and their seeming inability to put those childish things behind them. He has threatened to throw them out and watched as they burst into tears.
I know where they're coming from. They're traditionalists like me. They want to always have Easter baskets even when they're 50. They have trouble letting go of things and they don't see any reason why they should grow up. Hey, they're 9 and 11. Who could blame them?
But this year I thought I would forego the stuffed animals in the basket. They had the jelly beans and the little chocolate eggs. They had malted milk balls and the chocolate bunny. They had a cool little car with a little computer game on it. But no stuffed animals.
On Easter Day, they gathered all their animals together and my heart sank. Then they came out to find their Easter baskets and rifled through them. They found the cars and that got a smile. They tried to muster some enthusiasm for the chocolate bunnies but they looked crestfallen. Sigh.
I had a quick conference with my husband about this fiasco. I was almost in tears about this Easter basket failure and I begged him to go get them stuffed animals. He grudgingly agreed to go out on a hunt and to get some breakfast supplies while he was at it. So off he went on his mission, returning with a white and a brown bunny, the last in the store.
We put the bunnies on the table outside and then got the kids to go out and happen on the bunnies. And there it was: the light in their eyes.
Of course, they immediately got into a fight about who would have the white bunny and who would have the brown one. We then had to hint that the Easter Bunny wouldn't be so nice next time? Do they even believe in the Easter Bunny anymore? How long do we have to do this whole Easter Bunny charade.
Apparently, we are on the hook for the complete Easter basket complete with stuffed animals until our kids are 50. Since I will be 90 when my youngest turns 50, I'm hoping he'll be OK if I stop making him baskets by then.
I guess I can't force my kids to be mature or let go of childish things. If Easter bunnies bring joy to their hearts, then Easter bunnies they shall have.