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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Did you do Easter hunts growing up?

165 replies

Stomachfullofchocolate · 09/04/2023 18:31

I was a child of the 80’s, teen of the 90’s…I remember going to one Easter hunt as a child at a neighbours across the road, I had no idea what to do.
My parents would get me an egg for Easter for the morning and my grandparents would get me one…I was happy with that as I knew no different. We don’t go over the top in our house but I do plan a lovely egg hunt for Dd, get her some bunny ears/t-shirt etc and we do Easter activities -paint eggs, make Easter nests etc.
I’m not trying to sound like I’m perfect, I just enjoy doing it and it isn’t a massive hassle…I didn’t do any of it..we painted eggs at school and did nests so I suppose my mum didn’t think we needed to do anything else. But when I think about it, it’s like that with so many things…I do so much more with Dd and I work, whereas my mum was a Sahm for years. She wasn’t an awful mum, I’m not saying that at all, but things seem so different these days…even dinners were easy and things you just bunged in the oven (fishfingers, Findus crispy pancakes, chips etc) then she’d maybe cook from scratch on a Sunday. Breakfast was cereal in a bowl, no fruits, avocado on toast, eggs etc really like a lot of people nowadays. I think of all the things I bust my ass over and wondered why it wasn’t like that then or why just she wasn’t (not sure if that was the case or all motherhood was similar back then)
The thing she did do differently to me was a lot more daily cleaning…I’m rubbish and hire a cleaner as a treat as I prefer to put effort into spending time with Dd when I’m home and make better meals in general than in the 80’s.
Why didn’t my mum or maybe it was lots of other mums? Do these things?

OP posts:

Largeflaskoftea · 09/04/2023 19:31

I’m a child of the 70s and it’s not something we ever did. However, we used to get loads of eggs - had a big extended family so was never bothered. In fact I didn’t even know it was a thing and didn’t know if friends did it either.

I never did it with my DC but once again, they’d get lots of goodies from us and family. They’d moan about it sometimes but so what. I used to do tea parties and crafts etc so I don’t feel guilty!

DorotheaHomeAlone · 09/04/2023 19:31

We did big egg hunts every year and always made Easter bonnets or other Easter craft as well. At Halloween we made broomsticks from sticks and dressed up as witches. Not to trick or treat it was just a fun tradition. My mum was always doing craft with us or experiments we made up and taking us out on trips and adventures. I was born in the early 80s. My granny made us all fancy dress outfits every other year (about 10 grandkids).

We had plenty of time every day for playing with friends and making up games. My mum facilitated this - buying random clothes for fancy dress, taking us to the woody bit of the park, arranging play dates - but didn’t actually play with us. That was perfect.

Favouritefruits · 09/04/2023 19:31

We never had Easter egg hunts or anything for Easter, I only started doing egg hunts my when eldest DS started school as his friends did them and the mum guilt got to me.

Blinkingheckythump · 09/04/2023 19:31

Oh I've just remembered that McDonald's had a play bit in it, but we rarely went to McDonald's

IAmTheWalrus85 · 09/04/2023 19:33

No, born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s and never did an Easter egg hunt. I was thinking this today as I hid eggs in the garden for my children!

I also don’t remember Easter bonnets and Easter bonnet parades being a thing in the 80s and 90s.

89redballoons · 09/04/2023 19:33

I was born mid-80s. I don't ever remember doing an Easter egg hunt in England, but we moved to California with my dad's work for a couple of years in the early 90s and egg hunts were big news there. So I think it's an America import, like Halloween as well.

My DC did an egg hunt at the park this week, but they just got chocolate eggs with Easter breakfast this morning, and then we went to church. They're only very young and not in school yet, though, so we don't really have a sense of pressure from what other families do for Easter and Christmas yet.

Hankunamatata · 09/04/2023 19:33

80s and nope no easter egg hunts. Got chocolate egg and went to church. Did some easter craft at school.
I do some for mine. Just buy chocolate egg and perhaps do some colouring or crafts

KickHimInTheCrotch · 09/04/2023 19:34

One of my friends has put pictures of her Easter decorations on fb today - she had Easter crackers on the table! Some people obviously have money to burn.

LiliLil · 09/04/2023 19:34

80s child and never did an egg hunt.

I don’t remember doing crafts or baking as a child either, which is sad. I played out all day with my little brother being my responsibility. I think I played with barbies etc at home but honestly can’t remember if that was alone or not.

I do an egg hunt for my kids, 10 or so clues with treats hidden around the house and garden. Wish I’d never started it if I’m honest but I’m happy they’ll look back and remember it fondly when they’re older.

londonrach · 09/04/2023 19:35

80s child..no I didn't and don't know anyone who did

Meandfour · 09/04/2023 19:35

Stomachfullofchocolate · 09/04/2023 18:53

@Blinkingheckythump Exactly the same for me…was this the 80’s? Do you put it down to being a different time? Why were they so different in their ways?
My Dd goes to a couple of clubs-ballet, swimming…I never went to any, when I asked Dm how come, she said I never asked 🤷🏻‍♀️But I had no idea about them, where was the guidance…just feels so different now

Child of the 90s. Egg hunts every year and I’m one of 4 and we all did clubs.

Aozora13 · 09/04/2023 19:35

I’m also an 80s child. We didn’t do Easter egg hunts but we did paint boiled eggs and roll them down a hill. My mum was pretty anti-Halloween as apparently it’s just American consumerism and views trick or treating as demanding money with menaces. We made more of bonfire night tho, complete with those back garden fireworks episode-of-casualty-waiting-to-happen. We do egg hunts for the DC but it’s pretty low key.

Murphs1 · 09/04/2023 19:36

I think it was the times. We didn’t do Easter egg hunts but got eggs and did some crafts. There weren’t any soft plays, kids activities except brownies karate etc. We were out playing in the street with our friends and we all had similar upbringings.

FabFitFifties · 09/04/2023 19:36

70's child. No easter bunny, but we all got an egg, with our name iced on, from Mam and Dad. We got it in advance, saw the name being iced on in the shop, but weren't allowed to eat it until Easter Sunday. We got eggs of other relatives too, but not loads. We got an Easter outfit and sandals. Had never heard of an Easter Egg hunt. We dec orated eggs to take for school competition. No Easter decorations either at home, it just wasn't done. Mam made a lovely lunch, and one of our aunties did a lovely buffet tea.

Blinkingheckythump · 09/04/2023 19:36

KickHimInTheCrotch · 09/04/2023 19:30

My mum was excellent at lots of things- taught me to sew by hand and with a machine, taught me to cook, took us to educational outings, theatre. But we lived rurally and there were no clubs or activities unless you wanted to play cricket. My parents would never have got involved in Easter egg hunts or done any kind of organised activity apart from maybe the village fete in the summer. As far as I was aware no one round our way did. We got one chocolate egg and a pound from our nan. I remember my mum telling her we "didn't need any more chocolate". I was born late 70s. I certainly don't feel deprived or that she somehow let me down by not hiding mini eggs around the garden.

The op didn't suggest that she did feel that way or that anyone should. Just asked if it wasn't the done thing back then

WateryDoom · 09/04/2023 19:38

Your Mum didn't do all the things that you do because it wasn't normal back then. I'm a child of the 70s/80s. I don't remember ever being 'entertained' by my parents - nor was anyone I knew. They weren't 'making memories' with us, or feeling the need to keep up with the FB/Instagrammers. None of that crap existed.

We didn't do Easter Egg hunts. We grew up in the countryside and I don't remember much being organised for us, apart from the odd youth club disco. We had a lot more freedom to do our own thing and we were a lot more independent.

SausageinaBun · 09/04/2023 19:42

Nope, no egg hunt back in the 80s for us. We were allowed to buy ourselves one Easter egg and that was it. Not sure if it was because all our relatives were either from a different culture or lived abroad or because of my mum's war against sugar. We do an egg hunt for our DC each year. We probably had a roast every Easter sunday growing up, while we had leftover pizza for lunch today. So there are times when we do more and times when we do less.

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 09/04/2023 19:43

We did a treasure hunt with clues and one egg at the end. No Halloween, bonfire night in the garden.

I do think that the internet makes a big difference though. It means that ideas can be shared although also might add to the pressure to have the 'perfect' event.

Allwelcome · 09/04/2023 19:44

The E bunny and hunt was a massive thing for me (70's/80's) but I think it was because my family were a bit Northen European. Isn't the bunny German or Scandinavian originally?

Boringcookingquestion · 09/04/2023 19:45

I was little in the 90’s and didn’t have egg hunts, the Easter bunny just dropped our eggs off in a convenient pile 😁.

We did trick or treating, clubs and days out, but far less planned activities at home. My mum always comments on me being a really good mum and says that she wishes she had been more creative… but she didn’t have masses of inspiration from social media or the ability to google ‘fun science experiments for pre-schoolers’!

It was a different time. People didn’t have access to as much information on what others did, so if your family/friends didn’t organise elaborate Easter egg hunts, it’s less likely you’d do it either.

Both my mum and stepmum have also commented on how nice it is that I’ll often put off housework to play with my children and don’t worry about having a perfectly tidy house. In their circles at least, it doesn’t sound like that was the done thing.

If your mum was generally loving and kind, I’d stop comparing apples and pears and just accept times change.

cocksstrideintheevening · 09/04/2023 19:45

No we did egg rolling. Still do.

Proudofitbabe · 09/04/2023 19:45

Nope. We have done a few hunts for our DC but it was Defo not a thing when we were kids. Both from happy childhoods and got loads of eggs but not the elaborate hunts, special outfits, crafting etc like you seem to see on insta now. Hats off for the effort but it's not for me. We just want the chocca, however it comes!

MadisonAvenue · 09/04/2023 19:46

We were talking about this earlier, our kids are in their 20s now and were fondly remembering the clues we left around the house.
There was one year though when there was almost a massive fail. I was going to a concert with a friend and told my husband I’d sort the clues when I got home.
My friend came in with me on the way home and we sat chatting until the early hours of Easter morning and when she left I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t done the clues and set up the hunt, so it was quite rushed that year.

TeenLifeMum · 09/04/2023 19:46

Yes and an Easter bonnet parade every year too until I was about 8.

Largeflaskoftea · 09/04/2023 19:46

Yes, agree with this. And as children, we played outside a lot more too.

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