To wonder when all this Easter Bunny nonsense started?

[Housewife2010]

As a child I was given eggs by my family which I started on Easter Sunday. We give our children two eggs each and have an egg hunt and a few other chocolate treats. On FB now I see that the Easter Bunny has visited friend's houses and left masses of chocolate and presents. Is this the norm now? I would never have thought of buying Easter gifts.

I’ve seen a few “the Easter Bunny has been!” posts on fb with piles of eggs and also other presents. Madness.

We’ve never done the EB my sister used to tell her kids the EB was coming and they’d end up as hyper as at Christmas. Nuts.

We did do egg hunts but you can do that without reference to the EB.

Actually it’s older than the Christian Easter story. The goddess Eostre was often depicted as a hare, hence the idea of a bunny bringing good things (new life, tasty food!). So not newfangled at all!

Ditto the Easter bush (bunch of branches hung with decorated eggs) is an old German traditiona slowly making its way over here via Pinterest.... Done this for at least 20 years, before Pinterest existed. Didn't know it was a German tradition.

I used to get about 3-4 Easter eggs from close family, but it was reciprocal - I was brought up to give eggs too. The enjoyment of chocolate eggs doesn't end at 18 (or even 88)

Crafts and decorations aren’t new. Easter bonnet competitions have been around since before my parents were small and I remember painting eggs to go on a tree every year at school.

I always did them for the D.C. as a good way to keep them occupied and calm in the run up to chocolaggeddon and days of sugar high hell.

The Easter bunny doesn't exist in my family. Santa and the tooth fairy, they're real obviously. The Easter bunny is just in films.
We would get one egg each and some new clothes usually. Easter seems to have become a huge deal in the last couple of years. All those supermarket ads making out we all have huge family get together at Easter, requiring massive joints of lamb..so suddenly we think that what we used to do (take nana to church then go home and eat chocolate while watching crap films on the telly) is not what we should be doing...nooo we should be doing lunch for 24 people!
It's like fecking Christmas again. I'm sick of supermarkets constructing holidays and then everybody feeling like they ought to be doing what they see on the ads!
I'm not doing an Easter egg hunt OR cooking lunch for 36. I'm in bed with chocolate as Jesus intended.

Its totally ott... but each to their own! I do go a a bit mad on their birthdays and at christmas but mine get new clothes and egg for easter.

Why does it bother you so much?

If people can afford it and it makes them happy, why the hell not?

(Note I added the caveat that people shouldn’t spend money they can’t afford)

The Easter Bunny always came to our house. He left one egg.

MilkTrayLimeBarrel The Easter bonnets don't get stored in their glorious decorated state - after a couple of days, the decorations are quietly removed and the naked hats returned to the dressing up box to be used for normal dress up purposes !

It's just the corporates doing what they always do, jumping on an idea and using it to sell sell sell!

Mind you, way waaaay back when I was a child - 50 odd years ago - there were a few kids at school who got Easter presents as well as eggs. In my very conservative Catholic school, that was much frowned upon!

My bros and I would be given a tiny chocolate bunny each with breakfast, and then our eggs would be given after church. Easter being the major festival in the Catholic calendar, we didn't get home from church until about 1pm anyway (High sung Latin mass), so usually had to wait until after lunch to actually eat them. We scoffed the bunnies before lunch though

I ‘found’ a small bucket of treats outside (forgot to do it last night) just a couple of small eggs, some chicks and sheep and a toy.

And a cuddly bunny (all from Poundland so less than a tenner spent). Child currently colouring in a table cloth (also Poundland she said it’s the best bit of the day)

See, I like traditions that are about getting together and doing things, rather than getting things.

Egg hunt with a few small eggs and Easter lunch seems normal. Giving clothes and toys sounds weirder to me!

My children have three eggs each and we did a hunt with the little hollow eggs you can buy.

I saw a lot of what you’re describing on Facebook this morning but I don’t really care what anyone else does to be honest, each to their own.

I'm 38 & the Easter bunny visited our house when I was a child. He still visits my DC I thought it was normal. Couple of eggs. Maybe a set of bunny ears and a fluffy chick toy or something.

I'm in my 50's and parents were from Scotland. Our eggs were always hidden in the garden and I'm pretty sure it was done by the Easter Bunny. We then took them to a high hill where we rolled them down and then ate them all broken up. What on earth was that about?
I also hid the eggs for my DC from the Easter Bunny and we do the same now for GC
I must say we were the only family to do the rolling down the hill thing in the South East so maybe that's a Scottish thing

I was shocked last night to find out my grandson was leaving a plate out for the Easter bunny, it was personalised for him with an outline to put a carrot on it to help the Easter bunny on his way

It's probably just as well the Easter Bunny didn't seem to have become a 'real' thing when my DD was small (she's 19 so not that long ago). I would probably have cheerfully told her the Easter traditions were about new life, so we have eggs; rabbits are part of it because spring is when they make baby bunnies and they're far too busy doing that to help deliver eggs.

My parents didn't do it but I remember friends doing Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny delivering eggs. And there's that fantastic episode of vicar of dibley where the Easter bunny comes to visit

I am a bit at the flurry of pics on fb this morning of kids opening easter presents. That's new to me

I noticed this year and last that Tesco had put out a huge haul of toys for sale in the entrance aisle that I'm sure weren't placed there a few years ago.

Each to their own but some of these toys were high ticket items. Did wonder who's buying these??

I’m 30 and we’ve always had the Easter bunny, it’s not a serious thing, he just pops in and hides the eggs that people have bought, sometimes a few extra.
My 10 year old knows now that it’s me doing the hiding but it was just as fun!

I think the big difference is that back in the 70s, 80s and even into the 90s all Sundays were like Easter Sunday with nothing open, less people at work and more of a family day.
These days because Sunday is not much different to other days for many families this is one of the only times everyone can get together for a roast dinner. I think this is making more of an event.

The competitive misery around any event is always spectacular on here.

We do it but buy a few cheap packs of eggs, no more money spent really.

we are now expected to have an 'Easter Tree' along with decorations

To be fair the Eastern Europeans have been doing this for hundreds of years. MIL has had an easter tree since I’ve known her, and hers belonged to her mother. Trust me she is quite the opposite of a rampant consumer!!

WE always had a boiled egg -, as a child on Easter Sunday, my dm used to draw a face on the egg, and of course the chocolate easter egg.
people have family get togethers - a roast turkey, or lamb, a walk, or they do DIY or gardening.
Presents for the dc. why not? If you want.
I guess the shops Want us to buy presents for them. AFter all they want us to spend spend spend, on something