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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Socialist vs Capitalist Easter Egg Hunts

113 replies

Confrontayshunme · 09/04/2023 20:01

Growing up, my experience was a free-for-all where you got however many eggs you could find before they were all in baskets and gone. Tiny children got a few and older kids got more generally.

My DH's family hide all the eggs then have an elaborate system of division where everyone gets the same- from 2 year olds to teenagers.

Decide the debate once and for all: Which one is best?

YABU - Socialist "No, you already have a Malteaser Bunny so Give Your Brother That One" Egg Hunts

YANBU - Capitalist "You Get What You Get And Maybe Next Year You Will Be Better at Finding Them" Egg Hunts

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 09/04/2023 21:50

My kids have a five year gap between them so we definitely have a socialist system! Younger one would get very few otherwise .We tend to just divide the colours in the pack so one has (say) pink and blue and the other green and yellow- whichever way means they have equal numbers.

That said, my youngest makes me re hide the eggs over and over as his favourite bit is finding them!

AliceMcK · 09/04/2023 21:51

Socialist here. 3 DCs and 3 eggs in each location so everyone gets one each. Bigger public or wider family hunts the older ones will help the younger ones. If I saw any bigger kids grabbing too many I would definitely start hunting on my DCs or young kids behalf’s and make sure they got a good load.

I certainly don’t think it’s fair for much older/teenagers to be grabby when much smaller kids are involved and can’t compete.

GettingThereCharleyBear · 09/04/2023 21:53

@Useruser1 what fantasy system of capitalism are you basing that on?? 😂

BogRollBOGOF · 09/04/2023 21:57

2 children, close age gap. The eggs are hidden in pairs. It's a curious mixture of secretive competition and sibling support.

At the church egg hunt, definitely socialist and lots of discrete flinging packs of eggs back around the daffodills and graves for the younger and later children out of the service to give them a fair chance. My two are more about the thrill of the hunt than the consuming the spoils anyway.

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 09/04/2023 22:00

Socialist meritocracy here - feindishly challenging clues which they need to work together to solve and enough eggs for each child in each location.

7Worfs · 09/04/2023 22:00

I lived through actual socialism and it’s this - the children are told there is a five year waiting list for chocolate eggs.

The parents secretly eat chocolate eggs every night of the year.

WeWereInParis · 09/04/2023 22:06

My DH's family hide all the eggs then have an elaborate system of division where everyone gets the same

Surely dividing everything equally doesn't really count as elaborate.

I think all equal, especially if you've got different ages.

UnderCaffeinated · 09/04/2023 22:35

Socialist.

We hid the eggs in a few separate rooms, we started in the easiest room and they got gradually harder. The kids each got 60 seconds to find their allocation of eggs and they went in age order. If you did not find enough in your time, you still left the room and once everyone had a turn you went in to find the last ones together. It means that it's harder for the older ones, because the younger ones have taken the easy to find ones first and there's still some competition. They really enjoyed it! We've done ones with clues in the past which they also enjoyed but this was way easier for us to do!

Phoebo · 09/04/2023 22:38

Ha ha, I love this. I thought I was a capitalist, but maybe I am a socialist deep down 🤣 unless the child just stayed inside and didn't look at all, then no eggs for them!

CatMattress · 09/04/2023 22:40

Neither. Children are told pre-hu t how many eggs each and all the eggs are the exact same.

Sometimes they trade colours anyway, but whatevs. When they were younger it was a clue led hunt to find fluffy chick's and once all the chick's were found they each gor an egg, which worked well for co operation when they were younger.

I work FT now and cba, so just chuck a bunch of eggs round the garden, get AI to write a witty note from the Easter bunny letting them know how many they get, then drink a cup of tea while racking my brain where I just hid them all so I can help find the inevitable one or two that don't turn up.

EnchentButteler · 09/04/2023 22:40

DD1 will always be older than DD2 so I vote socialist because otherwise DD2 (and therefore me because I was the youngest) would always get the least because it isn't a level playing field.

That said this afternoon our lovely neighbours did one for them in their garden. 2 Easter eggs. 2 Easter bunnies and 8 creme egg sized eggs.

DD2 found both Easter eggs, 1 bunny and 4 creme egg sized ones so funnily enough DD1 was all for socialism this afternoon!

saucerfulofwater · 09/04/2023 22:43

Are you 12?

dropthevipers · 09/04/2023 22:52

if you are getting equal dibs under socialism then you can sit around drinking gin whilst the other suckers do the graft.

MammaTill2Pojkar · 09/04/2023 22:55

I can't be asked with arguments so I put the same thing out twice in each place with instructions that if they find more than one egg they only take one. So they get exactly the same amount and exactly the same things.

LighterNights · 09/04/2023 23:06

As long as everyone gets at least 1, then the rest is a free for all. Most just end up in piles around the house and everyone just grabs them and ears them when walking past, lol

Namechange828492 · 09/04/2023 23:11

I use plastic/wooden eggs and hide them, encourage DC to find one at a time then when all are found make them cover their eyes and re-hide them 🤣

IntheJingelyJangelyJungle · 09/04/2023 23:14

Colour coded here- Aldi did a bag of 30ish Easter hint eggs for a fiver, in 4 different wrapping colours. Was a total winner.

Floralnomad · 09/04/2023 23:14

When ours were children we did the egg hunt in my mums very large garden and each clue led to 2 eggs so everyone got the same amount , which was far too many

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 09/04/2023 23:17

We used to have a colour each, so I would be looking for blue eggs and my sister silver or similar. The competition was in finding yours first so we didn't tell the other if we saw their egg.

Our parents made the older sibling's eggs a little harder to find.

Equity over equality

thespy · 09/04/2023 23:23

I've always made them divvy it up (otherwise eldest would have loads and the others would barely have any) and then I've taken half of it and hidden it because no one needs that much chocolate, and none but my youngest can pace themselves. Anyway - why buy so much? Because it would be a rubbish hunt if they found the amount of eggs I think they should have 😂. I like the colour coded idea - but we are coming to the end of the hunts so it's too late for that now!

thespy · 09/04/2023 23:26

I should say in spite of the divvying they were still competitive - about who could actually find the most eggs.

sst1234 · 09/04/2023 23:29

‘Everyone’s a winner’ seeping into every aspect of life. Because we mustn’t upset the children, won’t somebody think of the children.

It would be cute, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 09/04/2023 23:33

Oligarch here. Kids bring all the eggs from our garden and give them to me. Then they LIBERATE the eggs from our NAZI neighbours and also bring them to me. In return I allow them to live. Great times !

surreygirl1987 · 09/04/2023 23:40

My kids have to work together to find all the little plastic eggs and then when they've found them all, the easter bunny delivers the chocolate ones (my husband puts them on the table while they're searching the garden for eggs)... they are only 4 and 2 though so easily tricked!

aSofaNearYou · 10/04/2023 09:28

sst1234 · 09/04/2023 23:29

‘Everyone’s a winner’ seeping into every aspect of life. Because we mustn’t upset the children, won’t somebody think of the children.

It would be cute, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Tbh I think the same thing as you when it comes to school and competitions - but I just don't view Easter as a competition.

Plus I don't want one of them to have loads of chocolate and the other none.