Conference moira::parenting_v3

    
    I'm bought a basket for my 18-month old.   Well, it's not actually
    a basket...he'd have no use for one and have tons in the house already
    ...so I got him a beach pail with shovel in light purple and yellow
    (i.e. kinda Easter-y).   I'm filling it will little toys (a matchbox
    type car with a bunny driver, a bendy bunny, a pair of plastic 
    rabbit scissors that cut paper only, some stickers, a couple of
    Easter books, and a small stuffed rabbit).   I'm going to get him 
    ONE Reese's peanut butter eggs...he had a bite of one and loved it..
    but normally doesn't get chocolate!
    
    I also got some of those plastic, fillable eggs that we'll do an
    egg hunt with.   He's too young to do real egg decorating this
    year; so these should be fine.
    
    I'd love to hear some other ideas!
    
    Carol

    We used those plastic fillable eggs also when my son was that age.
    We filled them with animal crackers.  He love it because they made
    great noises.  We hid some in the house and some outside.  He had
    a great time finding them and no 'sugar highs!' so we liked it too!
    
    Hope you have a fun Easter!
    
    Pam

    Mandy was 21 months last Easter.  We DID color eggs.  We set everything
    up, including mounds of Newspaper underneath EVERYTHING, lots of rags
    in handy places, and a huge plastic bib on Mandy.  And, we showed her
    how to handle the eggs very gently, how to turn them in the bowl with
    a wire thing, etc.  She tended to want to put every egg in every color
    so we had a lot of brown eggs!  She also enjoyed putting the little
    stickers on the eggs. 
    
    We did all that on Saturday night.  Then, on Sunday morning, we hid all
    of the eggs (both the real hard-boiled eggs, and lots of the plastic
    ones with those chewey fruit things in them).  All of the hiding places
    had to be easily seen from 2 feet off the ground.  This year we'll make
    it a little harder (i.e. she'll have to bend down, move a curtain,
    etc.)
    
    We're looking forward to it!
    
    Diana

    Saturday evening we did the egg-coloring bit. We were running late, and
    it was about 8:30 by the time we were done. Lauren (3-1/2) carefully
    put the eggs in a basket so that the Easter Bunny could hide them. Ww
    told her "OK, now you have to go to sleep so that the Easter Bunny can
    come". She went right up to her bed and was asleep in 2 minutes flat.
    "Great", we foolishly thought.. we waited a half hour to make sure she
    wasn't gonna get up again, and then I hid the eggs. 
    
    At 10 minutes to midnight, I hear the dread shuffle, shuffle, shuffle..
    Lauren comes in to our bedroom and announces "I think it's time to go
    find the eggs!". I said "Well, the easter bunny might still be here,
    and if we go down and scare him he'll never come back" (amazingly clear
    thinking for someone who is asleep..) 
    
    Well, you could almost hear the gears grinding in her head. About 10
    seconds later she says "Hmph." and shuffles back to bed.
    
    I don't know if I should be glad that she can carefully consider the
    things I say, or worried that she's gonna catch on soon!
    
    ...tom

    I think this is more appropriate here than in the Parent-Lite note...
     
    At church last Sunday the minister relates a presumably true story of a 
    little girl, dressed and ready to go to church on Easter, she's standing 
    in the door holding her Easter basket full of Eggs.  He mom suggests she 
    doesn't want to bring that to church.  The little girl gets quite upset and
    insists that she was told by the minister the previous Sunday to do
    this.  So finally the mother asks *exactly* what the minister had said.
    
    The little girl replies "that you should bring all you hardeggs to
    Jesus"  (Our minister said if you need a translation...... I say give
    the translation....."Heart aches")
    
    Kids...they're just so terribly cute and honest!!
    Lyn

    At the children's Mass on Easter, the priest gathered the children
    around him on the altar for their sermon. When trying to explain Jesus
    rising from the dead, he held up an Easter egg and made a comparison of
    Christ leaving the tomb to a chick breaking out of the egg. One little
    girl in the front looked at him in disbelief and said "There's no chick
    in that egg!!!", to which the priest replied "Yes, but...", but before
    he could explain, a little boy's voice from the back of the crowd answered:
    
    	"That's because you hard-boiled it!!!"

    Emily, age 2, is still afraid of characters... Easter Bunny at the
    Hallmark Store or Santa... is this common?  She just screams when you 
    her too close to them... 
    
    Marie

    Yes, my daughter, Avanti is 22 months old and is afraid of the Easter
    bunny. Actaully, she afraid of anything that is too close to her,
    things like - dogs, birds, etc.

    Age 2 is the only year I had problems with AJ, I have videos and still
    photos of him screaming a trying to wiggle away at the Hebert Bunny,
    and like photos of my nephew who was right behind us, and 2.5 months
    younger.  The same reaction that year to Santa, and at the Circus.  He
    had won tickets to the circus and there was a pre show party including
    the clowns, and an award ribbon was given to him by one of the clowns
    for winning the contest, he wouldn't go up without me just about
    dragging him!  
    
    I guess once you pass 2 you realize that if you put up with sitting on
    the lap of whichever character it is, you get a prize.  Just my theory!
    
    Lyn
    

    I started to string this one onto the story about kids not eating the
    bread crusts, but decided it belonged here...
    
    AJ is allowed one or two pieces of his easter candy for desert each
    night after supper, last week he chose a small package with some of
    those candy coated malted milk eggs.  I was off busy doing something,
    he was enjoying his rarely given candy, I come back into the kitchen
    and find he is done, and here's a little pile of the candy coating at
    his place.  So I do the obvious and ask if he doesn't like it.  Of
    course not, he "peeled" the egg!  Isn't that what you're "supposed to
    do mom?"
    
    Oh well, this is the kid I had to stop on Easter as he was heading for
    his THIRD hard boiled egg for breakfast!  He'd have eaten all 18 in a
    day if he'd had his way!!  He actually looked upon the boiled eggs as a
    treat! (strange kid in my opinion!)
    
    Lyn

    Some kids just don't like the characters, and don't like having
    their pictures taken.  Steven is 7 and still won't be caught dead
    near the Easter bunny . . . or a photographer.  
    
    --bonnie