LOOK at this face! My sweet friend SuSu did not care for the Easter Bunny. I think this picture captures the spirit of parenting perfectly, though. All dressed up with potential for perfection or perfect disaster. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
I am a shopper of least resistance. I will not clip coupons and go from store to store looking for good deals on meat and toilet paper. I need to get in and get out, and my child-free shopping time is way more valuable than the $2 I might have saved on paper towels and frozen peas. If they don’t carry it at Target, Walgreens, or Albertsons, I don’t need it. I would rather take a beating than go to Wal-Mart or HEB. Those places are just too busy for me. Amazon Prime – Godsend.
I thought I was doing pretty well getting ready for Easter festivities this week. Bodacious and Little Son had two egg hunts and parties to prepare for, and I had two baskets to decorate. I was two days ahead of schedule and thought I could pick everything up on the weekly grocery run. Though as I stood staring forlornly at what was left of the goodies at Albertsons, I knew I was actually a little on the late side. I had somehow managed to forget that 20,000 more people have moved here.
Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail
For three years I hunted down tattoos and stickers and pretzel bags and fruit snacks. I searched for the perfect colors of crinkly paper shred and plastic eggs of various shapes, themes and sizes. I would spend an evening cracking said eggs and stuffing them with treats and snacks I felt slightly more ok with. Then I discovered the pre-stuffed eggs a Walgreens last year. Holy moly! Why have I ever bothered?
So as I cruised up and down the aisle looking for those eggs-over-easy, it dawned on me that Easter goodies were almost gone! And when I finally found the m&m eggs, I was just too cheap to buy them. They were $1 each. Last year, I swear I bought two for $1.
People. I just stood there in disbelief, doing the math in my head. Do you realize what else I could buy for $24? A pair of shoes at Target! Six gallons of organic milk. A complete meal for our family at a place where I didn’t have to do the dishes. Six lovely, warm white chocolate mochas.
So I settled for eight, 3-pack boxes of Cadbury caramel eggs. They were individually wrapped and everything, 2 boxes for $3. I was totally willing to pay $12 for candy that required no effort on my part.
I carried out the groceries and loaded them into the car. Unloaded them and put them away at home, cleaned the countertops and fridge, carried out the trash. As I packed the eggs into their baskets, I realized I was a box short. Rats! And it was time to go get the kids.
Little Son shows off his loot from an afternoon party at the Hub’s office.
By the time I remembered I needed more eggs it was 10 p.m. and you know I am not going to the store that late. Tivo takes priority.
So I decided to hunt through the drawers and closets in search of three lost eggs from last year. Instead, I found three small bottles of bubbles and 10 boxes of green Peeps that were hard as rocks.
Egg on My Face?
You should have seen the look on the teacher’s face when I showed up with nine caramel eggs and three bottles of bubbles instead of the requested dozen stuffed plastic eggs. Priceless.
“You know what, we’ll make it work,” she said. I said great and hopped off to go pick up the nugget trays for their class parties. And I meant it! I was riding high. Both my kids were clean and looked cute, they had eaten breakfast and there had been no tears that morning. So regardless of their eggs, I wasn’t cracking up.
Outside I ran into another mom. She had been to three stores – three – in her hunt to get the right eggs for her 2-year-old. She ended up buying the expensive plastic pre-stuffed ones, emptying them, and then re-stuffing them with fruit snacks. “They told me no chocolate,” she offered.
“Well,” I said, “they probably told me no chocolate too, but as my kids chant at home, you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit. Easter eggs should not be this hard!”
Later that night, my friend Stephanie was short some eggs as well.
Bodacious is a model of single-minded determination at her school egg hunt. Note — no caramel eggs or bubbles in that basket!
“So I’m supposed to send a dozen eggs to school tomorrow for my 3-year-old’s Easter party. Turns out I have eight plastic eggs and 10 things to fill them with. I do, however, have one dozen confetti eggs. Is that wrong?” she asked.
No. No my sweet precious friend. That is so right!
So rise up moms and dads! Rise up and claim it this Easter – we might not be perfect, but we are pretty darned great a lot of the time. And I think it’s time we allowed ourselves to feel that way.
Q. What did you do to get Easter your own version of right this year?
Commentaires