This amount of Easter eggs

[Pinkbleach]

To get straight into it - I get my children 10 Easter eggs each every Easter .

When I started it years ago , it was very cheap. I don’t get the huge ones . Years ago I could get one or 2 big ( the ones that are now medium ) and then the little ones ( they had more packaging and more in them ) and I would spend £20.

It all stems from my son’s autism , he is a young adult now. I’ve always said that birthday and Christmas is at least 10 presents and 10 eggs at Easter . It’s usually more at Christmas but it has became a security thing - he knows he’s getting at least 10 presents ( he does not care about the price , he’s not spoiled . I could get his main present and then 9 things from the pound shop ) .

I have had comments about it being too much . I don’t get gifts and balloon arches or anything like that. My youngest never eats them all , he barely touches them and we eat a lot of them 🤣 but I can’t get him less. Usually at the end of half term we melt the uneaten eggs and make cakes - so that’s an activity for a day of the holidays - , the uneaten chocolates all end up in a box for anyone to have.

For info - this is what I spent.

I got 2 of the “ 2 for £9” eggs , the bigger ones. So they have one each of those. Usually I get some medium and some small but as the small were £1.50 ( and I left it late so couldn’t find any anyway) but the medium were £2.30 in Asda I didn’t bother with the small. So I then got 4 for £12 ( 2 each ) then they had 7 each of the £2.30 ones . I spent £53 in total , so £26.50 each . Usually it’s less as I grab the smaller ones when they’re on offer in Morrisons , it just happened that I left it late this year.

Yes, it’s a lot on chocolate . But I see people getting hampers and balloons etc .

Is this really over the top ?

That's a bit ridiculous.
You're paying vastly inflated prices for novelty chocolate..
Get 10 smaller eggs if the number is crucial?

Honestly? Don't do this to yourself. Free yourself from worrying about what strangers think! You do something that works for your family and that you can presumably afford. Are your kids happy with their Easter? Are you?

Honestly, yes I think it's over the top - but then so are hampers and balloons!

I just don’t see the point in buying kids more chocolate than they can physically eat.

I get my kids baskets with little eggs, chocolate bunnies, spring themed pjs, books, soft toys, stickers etc. I don’t really care whether someone thinks that’s over the top or not, I much prefer carefully selected things I know they will like and play with than a mountain of chocolate.

Obviously it's a lot but you're not buying them for the same reason as most others - to give to eat - you're doing it to fulfil a (rather arbitrary! ) promise you made when he was small, and presumably that still matters to him.

If you can afford it then it's not really an issue.

As he gets older I wonder if you could include "and we give to 10 charities/food bank items" as well? (If you can afford £1 to 10 places etc! ) Not scolding or judging or anything, just might be a nice thing to introduce. Or 10 things to charity shop.

Yes I think 10 easter eggs for any kid is far too much.

The question is whether you care what I think.

I usually do , but I left it late this year so I couldn’t . But , to be honest - chocolate wise - there isn’t much difference .

Personally yes I think it’s way too much. I have also been guilty of this in the past.

This year mine got one from grandparents, one from aunty and one from me. That’s plenty.

I know a mum that still has to sing a Christmas as a bedtime song to her 12 year old autistic daughter. My own autistic teen needs to make sure her bedside table has everything in the right position before she goes to bed. We do what we have to do and we pick our battles. If 10 Easter eggs is the number, it’s the number. All you can do is get the best deal you can.

Chavtastic , really ?! 🤣

I think you will find it’s extremely hard to keep a good diet with autism - with food aversions etc . He has vitamins, he has the only veg he will eat with every single meal even if it doesn’t necessarily go with the meal , the only fruit he will eat - daily . He walks daily , he’s very fit and healthy .

If you read my post I say that the chocolate gets melted down and the chocolates go in to a box - meaning there is a LOT left over . None of my children eat 10 Easter eggs . The cakes get given out ( my youngest doesn’t eat much chocolate / sweets etc and my eldest would never eat homemade cakes ) but it’s a fun activity .

Is it simply the actual number of eggs rather than the size of them?

If so then next year could you buy an egg hunt kit (available at Morrison's, Asda, lidl, Aldi etc) and this year it was about £5 for 20-22 small hollow chocolate eggs.

So the eggs were the size of a creme egg but they were simply hollow chocolate.

It would allow you to easily fulfil the number requirement (10 eggs each) without breaking the bank or wasting chocolate.

You could give a standard medion or large egg and the rest as these small hollow eggs hunt sized eggs.

Eta: this is purely a suggestion to save some cash and sanity, there is no judgement in the 10 eggs given the reason behind it!

This is exactly it! There are things that become routine and breaking that routine could do more harm than good . He will be really excited / anxious the night before Easter , then he runs down in the morning and looks at his eggs , counts them and that’s it . He’s calm then , Easter was as expected . He will nibble on them , I’ve never known him to actually finish an egg - a nibble then on to the next .

In a world that is confusing and difficult for him I will do whatever it takes to keep him calm and feeling safe in situations I can control

It's your kid, and your cash. If you're happy, why would anyone else care?

It’s ridiculous to me, but not as ridiculous as mandating 10 birthday gifts! But we can all do as we please with our own children.

If you're happy and can easily afford it then it's entirely your choice, Easter chocolate is a bit overpriced compared with just regular chocolate so I wouldn't want to be buying some that you know won't be eaten just to put in baking. The traditions and things (that there are 10) are nice though. Can you get one or 2 big ones and then the very small ones, or maybe those refillable plastic ones (we save ours and reuse) that you can put other things inside that they might enjoy?

It’s the number - but they have to be ‘Easter eggs ‘ . So a Cadbury egg or something like that ( there has to be more Cadbury than other brands ) - that’s just what he sees as an Easter egg . It’s more a case of having them than eating them. There is always one “big “ which simply means bigger than the rest ( so one medium and 9 small would be fine ) .

I did have a go at smaller ones before and it didn’t go down too well . The way he sees it - small chocolate eggs can be bought at any time of the year - like crème eggs - but Easter eggs can’t so if it can be bought any other time of year it’s not an Easter egg

I couldn’t afford to spend this amount on chocolate on a regular basis , but I budget for Easter .

The refillable wouldn’t work as he has a very rigid idea of what is and isn’t an Easter egg .

I also had this as a child myself , we would have mountains of eggs and bars of chocolate ( odd as my parents were on low income but I guess it was cheaper ) so the fact I started this all those years ago probably comes from that .

10 is a lot of eggs

but more the cost. Spending £50 is insane imo

so get smaller eggs either for 99p or as Easter moves yearly work out when it is next year

Good Friday: 3rd April / Easter Sunday: 5th April / Easter Monday: 6th April.

and buy early

Ooo the puritans will be coming for you 🤣.
We do an egg hunt every year, so do my parents.

This year DH bought the eggs & spent £80 & covered our 3 kids (16,17 & 23), my new daughter (22) & my grandson (18m).oh, and one galaxy egg for me (with a bigger bar)

This gave them (each)

1 mid sized egg (egg with one bar/bag)
1 small boxed egg (egg smarties egg with smarties inside)
Kinder bunny
Part bag of mini eggs
3 creme eggs
Two each of those tiny Malteser bunny things

We then write clues for them to find the eggs.

It's family tradition to do a hunt with eggs along the way increasing in size. My mum used to make the eggs when we were little (cos it was cheaper) & my kids bloody love it. Mum & dad now do one egg each for each grandchild (7) & their great grandson combined with a hunt which is four clues & on completion of the 4th they get given the egg.

Couldn't give a shiny shit what others think, just have fun with your small ppl. I personally love that my kids all still enjoy this even at their age.

I don't really know what the point of this thread is OP?

You're not daft, you know it's too much and unless you've never met Mumsnet before, you know plenty of people will say it's too much.

But it's your money, your family and your choice 🤷‍♂️

Low income here too :) I'm sure it's cos we place a higher value on being decadent a couple of times a year (easter/Christmas).

Never mention life with an autistic child/family member on AIBU. So many people have zero understanding and will be unapologetically offensive in their responses.

Could you buy plastic eggs and fill them with smaller bits, that way they’re reusable every year? Bulk it out with medium to bigger chocolate ones? I grew up in a small, churchy place and 10 eggs was nothing when I was a child, along with toys and money it was basically mini Christmas. This was the 90s so I don’t understand the vitriol that comes about on here about Easter suddenly becoming an over indulgence.

I think if your child is happy, esp with being autistic and it being one of their things - the number of eggs, then it doesn't really matter what anyone else things. Would it be worth any issues/meltdowns to change it?

You don't spend massive amounts, and as long as you can afford it that is fine in my opinion. People spend more on non chocolate things over easter so its no different really.

My kids end up with loads - family and friends buy as well. I get 2 each (medium size) then a small bunny each. They then have a handful of those small egg hunt size ones. This year I did a biscuit and hot choc thing as well. I think we have about 5-7 more each from family, friends and activities (football/rugby).

I also do the melting down for baking. It also lasts us until the summer holidays and I buy no other weekly treats until it is gone.

Most parents aren't in your position and find it difficult to identify with it. Most parents think 10 easter eggs is far too much.

OTOH I am willing to bet that if most parents were given the offer of having a perfectly well behaved child for a year and the price was buying 10 easter eggs then they would do it in an instant.

So you are generally going to get 2 types of people. Those who can't imagine that this is a worthwhile exercise based on their own experiences of kids without special needs. And those that can based on their own experiences of kids with special needs.

You aren't going to be any the wiser asking the opinions and hoping for the approval of the masses on this sort of question. The only person you need to justify your behaviour to is yourself.