So, my kids are all adults in their twenties. And they live with me.
My oldest is 27.
This is the first year the Easter Bunny didn’t come to my house. I feel a little guilty.
When they were little, they got the traditional Easter basket – chocolate bunnies, Peeps, Reese’s peanut butter eggs, Cadbury eggs, a little toy of some kind, all nestled in a bed of green, cellophane easter grass. When they got a little older, they got the candy plus things like baseball cards, Pokemon cards, kites, Matchbox cars, action figures – GI Joe guys, Star Wars guys, Batman figures, fancy pencils, markers, etc. Older still, they got the candy, VHS movies, CDs, toiletries like deoderant, shampoo, shower gel, and little grooming kits with nail clippers and tweezers. Some years they got cool t-shirts or a hooded sweatshirt, baseball caps – stuff like that.
Every year, it seemed to get harder and harder to find interesting stuff to put in the basket. The Easter Bunny still used their original baskets from when they were small – awesome, beautiful, old baskets that had been given to me by MY Easter Bunny. Every year it became more and more of a challenge to arrange and fit all their loot into the basket. Every year it seemed to get more and more extravagant and a little ridiculous as I waited until all of them were home from their various nights out and in bed sleeping, so that I could sneak into their bedrooms and deliver their baskets.
A couple years ago, when my youngest was in his late teens, the Easter Bunny downsized, dropped the baskets and scaled down to just a gift bag with some chocolate and a DVD.
This year, the Easter Bunny didn’t come.
I don’t know….I just felt the time had come to retire the Bunny, but I feel kind of sad. I mean, how long does the Bunny come?? My Bunny stopped coming when I was 19 and got married and left my parents house. If my kids had left the house, the Bunny would, obviously, have stopped delivering, but they won’t leave. I just kept thinking, “Paula, Adam is 27. It’s time to let the Easter Bunny go.” I had scenes in my head of him being in his thirties and still waking up on Easter morning to his Easter Bunny gift bag. But, I couldn’t stop delivering to one and keep delivering to the others, right? So I made the decision and no one got anything.
I feel like a mean mom.
Don’t feel bad. Did your boys notice? I think that’s the key.
Look on the bright side… you could be like my mom who has four still living at home (aged 32-27) plus my baby niece, who does Easter baskets for her five kids, son-in-law and five grandchildren. It’s fun to get a basket, but I’d be fine without it, too.
And now I have TWO baskets for each of my four kids to unpack, twice the candy, twice the toys, twice the eggs…
this post reminds me of the first christmas my mom had to come wake ME up! very depressing. holidays haven’t been the same. but this east was different:
after years of sad attempts: i arrived for our visit saturday night. they showed me all the plants they bought me! that was cool. then easter morning my dad spent about an hour picking out the perfect pot for each herb and each succulent. we all hung out in the garden.
it was different…but it was better.
you’re not a mean mom, it’s just time to change your easter.
Hi you guys!
Kemi, your mom! She must be such a special, special woman! So sweet of her to remember you all with Easter baskets.
My boys did notice, but they joked about it – no hard feelings. Haha And, who knows? Next year, maybe the Easter Bunny will return.
Goodbear, what a sweet Easter you spent with your parents. Thoughtful gifts and time spent together – different from when we were small, but still special.