Egg Scramble

Today was Mihret's first Easter Egg Hunt.

Yes, I know we promised updates from Tennessee and birthday spectacular... those are coming. Patience, grasshopper.

Where was I? Right- Today was Mihret's first Easter Egg Hunt. We chose to share this experience with the good folks in Monrovia, where they seemed to have everything in order. "Seemed" is the best word.

The first sign of problems should have been the fact that this event was co-sponsored by the Monrovia YMCA and the Network for a Healthy California. Yeah, it was on the flier, but it was hammered home like an atom bomb when the person on the loudspeaker informed everyone that "This year, there is no candy in the eggs; only toys".

Two things-

1. Any toy that would fit in an egg would also fit in the windpipe of a small child. Good thinking, Monrovia.
2. NO candy? At an Easter egg hunt? Are you freaking kidding me? What's the purpose of being a parent if you don't get any... uh... if your kids don't celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with sugary goodness? They've already screwed up Halloween, I guess this was the next logical choice.

Mihret being healthy. Derek being Derek

One thing we were thankful for was the decision to allow the kids to "search" by age group. They had the corral all set up, and even had about 6 teen aged and young adult volunteers to help with the process. Remember that number.

Volunteers volunteering. Now I get to tell Mihret that eggs don't come from boxes. Thanks, guys.

The calm before the storm

So, the "plan" was to have all of the kiddos (you know, the two year olds?) come inside the fence, wait on the perimeter, and then go get the eggs on the signal. Initially, there seemed to be a "no parents" rule, but after the 6 volunteers looked at the 60 toddlers, they changed that pretty quickly.

Herding cats. Check Derek's form- proper stance, visualize the target.

Eyes on the prize, dada. Eyes on the prize.

So, after 20 minutes of waiting in line, being banished to the outer regions, and being told repeatedly to "wait... don't touch that... wait...", the kids were given the signal.

Release the hounds!

To be honest, I think our little boo was a bit overwhelmed; she froze. But, so did about 80% of the kids there- that is, until their parents got involved. Some were holding hands and encouraging, some were looking at everything through the viewfinder, some stood back and watched the chaos. I was firmly lodged in group A.

But there was another type of parent, though, that absolutely amazed me- although, given what I do for a living, I shouldn't have been surprised. As I knelt there trying to let my daughter know that things were OK, and that the eggs were there to be picked up I was overwhelmed by the people who were scooping up goodies into their kids baskets. It's almost as if they didn't hear the announcement about "no candy this year."

The lady in the gray shirt over my shoulder actually nudged Derek out of the way to put more eggs in her daughter's full basket.

I can understand two year olds being a bit self absorbed and not understanding how to share. I guess I was surprised to be reminded that adults have the same issue.

Staged discovery, for mama and her new camera

Mihret ended up with two eggs, one of which we gave to a little boy who had gotten pushed out of the scrum and ended up with nothing. Again, this isn't about haves and have nots- if Mihret hadn't "found" any eggs while all the other kids did, that wouldn't be a problem. But when role models don't model...

Anywho- nothing says "Christ is risen" like hoards of kids being encouraged to compete over resources in a "whoever gets the most is the best" mentality. It really goes against the true meaning of Easter.

Especially if there's no chocolate involved.