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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Easter eggs- how would you react

456 replies

Oilpyi · 04/04/2021 10:02

Asking for perspective, neither DH or I grew up with Easter Eggs or much in the way of things- it already seems indulgent, but I’m aware our perspective isn’t always the norm with the world the kids grow up in. That’s why I’m asking...

We’ve had a crazy amount of eggs this year. DH as a key worker was gifted a very generous pile. I got some through volunteering, kids got some from family and from clubs. I was planning to give some away as it seemed so many. They’d weren’t little or cheap either, ones with Lindt bunnies in, London, fancy M&S stuff etc plus some smaller ones with mugs. Not little eggs.

The ones from work etc were in a stack on a sideboard, along with some boxes of chocolate where they’d been for days. A box or two was open and we’d been sharing them already. Neither of us eat much chocolate ourselves and we generally have no issue with the kids slowly eating their way through it, which is what we normally do with gifted chocolate. Open one at a time/ one each at a time and let them eat.

This morning I had left the eggs from family on an armchair and said ‘Easter bunny’s been’ and left the kids while I showered. Fine them opening and eating.

When I came down they’d collected all the eggs and chocolate boxes from both rooms and had opened the lot, a huge pile of ripped boxes obviously frantically opened. They’d then made a pile each of eggs and chocolate sharing it out. Rubbish from boxes everywhere and they’d opened chocolate each and already the carpet was covered in chocolate bits (whilst I’m not Usually precious it was an instant Hoover need or they’d be chocolate stains over a wide area). The floor was a sea of boxes.

It just looked so wasteful they’d rip in like that, so presumptuous we’d not want any given to us (we normally eat a little of what we get ourselves, but not much) and just so expectant they could do it without even asking. I felt sick walking in and seeing such an expensive pile of chocolate just all opened and piled up carelessly- it was more that than either adult wanting any. It seemed so spoilt. No concept of any value or appreciation of it.

The kids are a range of primary ages from the oldest to the youngest spanning yr 1-6. I’m generally a bit irritated anyway with the older ones being messy and lazy and everything being a fight.

So- how would you react?
Say it’s Easter- enjoy and have fun
Or yes, that’s overly wasteful and spoilt behaviour.

OP posts:
Bonnieonthelam · 04/04/2021 13:53

@namesnamesnamesnames

You left them with it all though! Did you give clear instructions not to open them?
Have to agree, you left them within reach.
C8H10N4O2 · 04/04/2021 13:55

@MarriedToMyBestFriend19

Only read your first post op. You left your kids to it without any instructions, so its your fault it ended up the way it did.
Try rereading it. You seem to have missed one of the most salient points.
CornishPastyDownUnder · 04/04/2021 13:55

Thats like leaving a bunch of presents for young kids and not expecting them to gleefully rip into them.
Your issues are something different-you need to educate your kids as they grow on consumerism etc if you expect them to know better.
Let them enjoy the chocolate ffs and move on-theyre not terrorising the neighbourhood or robbing shops..

halloumihalloumi · 04/04/2021 13:55

Erm, I would be very angry and there would be consequences. Regardless of if it is Easter, this isn't how I would want my children to behave.

Mine are 4& 6 and they did an egg hunt at 7am - had a basket full of goodies. I said one each and then went back to bed for an hour whilst they watched TV. They independently put the remainder in the fridge. Even if I hadn't said anything, tbey lnkw better than to do what yours did. It isn't Xmas - it ain't open all tbe wrapping straight away. CraZy they think this would be acceptable?

cookiecreampie · 04/04/2021 14:13

Kids aren't perfect. Yes it's spoilt behaviour but most kids are now and again unless their parents are utterly joyless. How about you go and discuss it with them rather than writing about it all over the Internet?

alreadytaken · 04/04/2021 14:15

read your post, not the whole thread. Children who learn restraint do better in later life. I'd have been annoyed and not just with the 11 year old but to a lesser extent with all of them. They need to learn that greed is not admirable.

GreyhoundG1rl · 04/04/2021 14:18

In two separate rooms? Give over.
She told them the fecking Easter Bunny had arrived! Why wouldn't the bloody bunny leave the eggs all over the house? People have Easter egg hunts all over their gardens. All over their neighbourhoods, for that matter.

daisypond · 04/04/2021 14:18

Thats like leaving a bunch of presents for young kids and not expecting them to gleefully rip into them.

I wouldn’t expect them to gleefully rip into a bunch of presents. My DC just would never do that. They would wait until everyone was there, so they wouldn’t ever open up anything first. It’s the same at Christmas and birthdays.

UrAWizHarry · 04/04/2021 14:21

I swear some people think children are just small adults with the same thought processes.

Fact is, if you leave 4 kids unsupervised in a house full of chocolate they are going to eat it. Don't be a slightly shit parent and then blame the kids.

ForgedInFire · 04/04/2021 14:22

Not sure what part of my post you've taken issue with lerelaisdelachance if you're going to take such a hands off approach to things then sometimes children will get it wrong. She could have just hung around 2 minutes longer and actually given the children their Easter eggs properly and this would have all been avoided

Shrivelled · 04/04/2021 14:27

Basic parenting rule to hide treats you don’t want to be eaten by young children.

SofiaMichelle · 04/04/2021 14:28

@CornishPastyDownUnder

Thats like leaving a bunch of presents for young kids and not expecting them to gleefully rip into them. Your issues are something different-you need to educate your kids as they grow on consumerism etc if you expect them to know better. Let them enjoy the chocolate ffs and move on-theyre not terrorising the neighbourhood or robbing shops..
So using your 'bunch of presents' analogy, you would think it's ok that the children gleefully ripped into presents for other people? Presents that were in another room which hadn't been offered to the children?

And the OP should 'let them enjoy' the other presents that weren't for them, because they're not 'robbing shops'?

The mind boggles.

(Or did you perhaps not read the OP properly, like so many other people)

Fortherosesjoni70 · 04/04/2021 14:30

I wouldnt have an issue. We were allowed to eat them for breakfast if we wanted. No big deal.

Fortherosesjoni70 · 04/04/2021 14:30

@ForgedInFire

Not sure what part of my post you've taken issue with lerelaisdelachance if you're going to take such a hands off approach to things then sometimes children will get it wrong. She could have just hung around 2 minutes longer and actually given the children their Easter eggs properly and this would have all been avoided
..and this.
Fortherosesjoni70 · 04/04/2021 14:30

You said, 'enjoy' and they did!

Blackcat21 · 04/04/2021 14:31

@Shrivelled

Basic parenting rule to hide treats you don’t want to be eaten by young children.
Or maybe a basic parenting rule is teaching children not to touch what is not theirs? Confused
WisnaeMe · 04/04/2021 14:34

they'll be sick as dogs in a few hours 😏

FloraFauna27 · 04/04/2021 14:37

@Shrivelled

Basic parenting rule to hide treats you don’t want to be eaten by young children.
You’re joking right? How about teaching a child not to eat what doesn’t belong to them?
FloraFauna27 · 04/04/2021 14:40

Not to mention the fact the child isn’t young. They are 11!!

Shrivelled · 04/04/2021 14:41

@Blackcat21 @florafauna27

She said “the Easter bunny has been” and left a big pile of eggs on display for the kids to see then walked away. I’m very much not joking. OP should have put them in a cupboard which would have taken 2 seconds and this whole situation would have been avoided! Blaming the kids for this is nuts.

Caesargeezer · 04/04/2021 14:41

They’re 1-6 years old? I would have put the chocolate that wasn’t theirs out of sight, otherwise too much temptation but more likely just confusion on their part.

dementedpixie · 04/04/2021 14:43

@Caesargeezer

They’re 1-6 years old? I would have put the chocolate that wasn’t theirs out of sight, otherwise too much temptation but more likely just confusion on their part.
Please read the thread properly They are age 6-11
DarkMatterA2Z · 04/04/2021 14:44

Easter sounds like a barrel of laughs in your house. Throw your kids the goodies and disappear off by yourself ignoring what should be a family occasion. Where's the magic, the ritual, the slow building of excitement, the family sharing in the experience and finding or opening eggs together, the checking what each other has? No wonder your kids decided to spice things up a bit with the wholesale slaughter of Lindt bunnies and M&S's finest.

LondonJax · 04/04/2021 14:44

@Caesargeezer - they're 6 to 11 years old (year 1 to 6 in school). And the other eggs were out of sight - in another room. They had to go out of the room they were in, where the eggs they could eat were on a chair and get the other eggs that were elsewhere in the house. Then opened the lot.

Caesargeezer · 04/04/2021 14:45

Ok, I stand corrected!

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