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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not buy my children Easter eggs or Easter presents?

90 replies

brassick · 17/04/2011 10:12

My children obviously think so!

They get gifts and/or eggs from relatives, in fact I have always asked that if relatives wanted to buy them something for Easter that it be a gift rather than chocolate. But I have never seen the need to buy them anything myself.

My dd's do not want for anything & I don't see why I should be guilted into buying them chocolate (which I do buy them anyway more or less every week) or gifts for a Christian festival which we do not celebrate, being non-religious, and which, like many of these festivals, have been turned into a consumer fest.

I don't think I've come across anyone else in real life who doesn't buy their children anything at Easter-IABU? And is there anyone else out there like me?

OP posts:
sue52 · 17/04/2011 13:36

My girls got one chocolate egg each at Easter when they were little. We did decorate eggs and have a chocolate gold coin hunt in the garden which they loved. I never thought I should buy presents, is this a new thing?

hunkermunker · 17/04/2011 13:38

Anyone who decides to buy Easter eggs - Say NO to Nestlé this Easter please!

StewieGriffinsMom · 17/04/2011 13:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs · 17/04/2011 14:06

FGS - buy them an Easter Egg and stop being such a bloody misery guts. If you lost them both tomorrow would you feel good about this 'life choice'?

We used to get PJ's for Easter (as well as an Egg), we loved them. As an adult I can see that it was simply buying us something we needed, dressed up as a present - it worked Grin

Easter Egg hunts for little ones is great fun - all the part of the joy of Easter.

Original poster
brassick · 17/04/2011 14:24

Well each to their own, and I expected a bit of a flaming.

However, I think that if I "lost them both tomorrow" I genuinely would not be worried about whether I had ever bought them Easter eggs or not...I think that's a bit of an extreme reaction to me not wanting to shower them with more chocolate and gifts than they already get.

OP posts:
DandyDan · 17/04/2011 14:40

I'd buy them a small Easter egg.

Our have always been given two or three eggs plus a new outfit by grandparents - it was always traditional to wear a new dress or outfit on Easter Day, and they carried on that tradition - now they still get a new top or t-shirt from g-parents. As they don't want to eat so much chocolate now, we buy a small egg and get them a DVD that the whole family can watch. And run an Easter Bunny trail of clues to find everything.

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs · 17/04/2011 14:57

It's not about showering them with more chocolate and gifts than they already get - it's about doing something very small that would make them happy. It's a small amount of chocolate that would make them feel like you cared & listened to them... that you did for them, what their friends parents did for them. It's such a small thing I can't see why you are kicking against it.

When you lose someone it is often the small things you wish you had done differently...

annapolly · 17/04/2011 15:18

We love Easter, egg and present hunt, all the family together, celebration dinner.

I don't believe in god as such. For me God is love, literally, and love is being with family.

You can choose to do what ever you want.

exoticfruits · 17/04/2011 16:20

Why not do something artistic instead to make it special, dye eggs or decorate them? Let them bake and decorate Easter cakes or bake Easter biscuits.

bristolcities · 17/04/2011 16:24

We do an boiled egg race. Eggs boiled in dye or onion leaves to give them a bright colour then roll them down a hill. Whoever gets the furthest with out breaking wins.

Onetoomanycornettos · 17/04/2011 16:33

Feel free not to get them an Easter egg, you don't have to, obviously it's not a money issue (we usually get our two a 99p Buttons one each, no pressies!) However, they will remember and that's just the way it is. When you opt out of traditional festivals, and don't replace it with alternatives or something more meaningful for you, they will remember it just as they would remember if you got them very few or no Christmas presents, even if the relatives got them (you are not their relative, you are their mother FGS!)

We do the whole lot, church, the Easter Bunny, eggs and new life. It's very cheap, but a proper family tradition for us.

EllenJane1 · 17/04/2011 16:58

Our 3 get 2 eggs and a bunny or something and 3 creme egg size ones for an egg hunt. That's it, just from us, none from relatives or friends, that seems crazy! Definitely no presents, it's not a birthday or Christmas fgs. I'd much rather buy a couple of eggs that last a couple of days and are gone.

I'm a committed atheist but it is Easter! Everyone gets eggs. 2 or 3 are plenty.

As for books, they are bought fairly regularly and we go to the library. They are essentials, not treats.

LoopyLiz88 · 17/04/2011 17:39

We do Easter presents but nothing ott. SS is getting star wars pajamas, lego set, chocolae rabbit and a few other bits and pieces of candy. DDs will each get a chocolate bunny and pjs as they're still too small for lots of chocolate. Who knows what they'll end up with from my family and DH's family tho. Hmm

SparklyCloud · 17/04/2011 17:50

Ok, do you want them to look back when they are adults themselves, and remember everyone elses mum bought them easter eggs but theirs didn't because she had some thing about them getting too much chocolate?!

CoteDAzur · 17/04/2011 18:05

YABU and mean for no good reason. Just give them an egg - what's the big deal?

We are not Christians but DC will go on their fourth egg hunt next week, in a friend's garden. It's fun. They love running around filling their baskets and then having a few chocolate eggs.

Firawla · 17/04/2011 20:41

OP i don't buy my dc easter eggs either, because we are muslim and its a christian festival so we don't celebrate it ourselves. if we were just non religious then tbh i would prob buy it just as its the done thing in this country but i don't think its such a big deal if you dont get it for your dc, they are not going to feel neglected just because of this, provided you treat them to things sometimes during the yr and spend time with them. an easter egg is not more important than that, its just an easter egg! mine were given a choc bunny the other day and i let them have it, but wouldnt specifically go and buy them easter chocolate myself every yr. they are very young now but when they are older i dont think it is that hard for them to understand that we wont buy them an easter egg

SpringchickenGoldBrass · 17/04/2011 21:06

I am buying DS a present because there is something he wants which is a bit more than I would normally spend on just a random non-occasion treat and it's a combination of Easter being an occasion where presents are often given (and when I was a kid my parents always bought me and my brother a gift and and egg) and also the fact that DS deserves a little treat for extra good school work.

duckypoo · 24/04/2011 01:04

YANBU I have bought my lot 2 eggs each, just because they won't get any from anyone else. i was brought up RC, although my parents didn't actually believe in god Hmm. We went to church at easter, had crap loads of eggs and a new outfit.

We are not religious, we don't do church and to be quite honest I can't be arsed with the rigmarole of egg hunts and easter bunnies. Christmas is quite enough of the forced jollity and consumerism for us, easter can get to fuck.

NotaMopsa · 24/04/2011 01:14

YANBU

my children are getting one but i'd rather not

NotaMopsa · 24/04/2011 01:16

how could I resist?

alistron1 · 24/04/2011 06:54

"Christmas is quite enough of the forced jollity and consumerism for us, easter can get to fuck."

LOL!! How cheerful!!

I rather like a bit of forced jollity Grin

We are atheists, but we celebrate 'xmas' and 'easter' .... 'xmas' as a marking point of the midwinter and 'easter' as the beginning of spring/summer.

My kids have had a fiver each off their grannies, an egg from their grandad and have 3 eggs, a mini egg and a gold bunny each waiting for them in the living room.

We are going to my SILs for lunch and an egg hunt today and we are all looking forward to it.

Also, it is my birthday today, so in my mind we are all really celebrating that this year Grin

hairfullofsnakes · 24/04/2011 07:26

If they have choc already, where is the harm in one egg?! I Don't think your 'stand' makes any sense at all and just sounds like you are being stubborn for stubborn's sake if I'm honest. Just get them one small egg each!

I won't be getting mine eggs as they One is only three and the other is a baby and the three year old doesn't have choc yet but when they are older and notice choc I won't deny them a treat of it or eggs at Easter.

If your relatives get them eggs and they have choc, a little egg from mum and dad is a nice gesture - like others say 'stop over thinking it'

MrsGravy · 24/04/2011 07:34

See, Easter is a lot easier to do on a very small scale than Christmas. My kids have a little easter egg hunt using mini-egg size eggs, say 10 each. Then they get one of the smaller £1 eggs - or this year one of those Cadbury Chicks filled with buttons. And I would say Chocolate eggs have more relevance to Easter than pressies do to Christmas - eggs signifying new life. Pressies signifying f-all!!!

So, honestly, YABU and a bit mean. But I doubt they'll be scarred for life.

Pancakeflipper · 24/04/2011 07:39

So do you do anything OP? Do you have an extra nice lunch or go out somewhere? Or do you stubbornly sit on your sofa with a scowly face? I agree with the others - really overthinking this.

I haven't bought my kids anything. They have a mountain of goodies, books and other stuff wrapped up to open from friends, family and church. Instead after the Easter Egg hunt in the garden, then after Sunday lunch we will take them to the mini-steam trains near our home and spend money on rides and ice-creams. And have fun.

CheerfulYank · 24/04/2011 07:47

MrsGravy in the Christian tradition presents at Christmas signify the Wise Man's gifts to Baby Jesus as well as the gift that was Jesus Himself. At least that's what I was always taught! :)

OP it certainly wouldn't hurt you to get your daughters an egg or two, but if it's something you feel strongly about I don't think you ABU not to.

FWIW we're Christians and celebrate with a small basket with books, pencils, a bit of candy, etc. We go to DH's aunt's and the DC have an egg hunt with all the cousins. They're those plastic eggs filled with jellybeans or stickers or whatever. :)

I think a ton of presents and either Easter or Christmas is madness, personally. For the people who say some DCs receive clothes, are they special outfits to wear to church? People here do that. I didn't for DS because I have a lovely button-down that I got at a garage sale that I've been waiting for him to grow into, so he'll wear that.