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 ?

This

I’m sure DD had 10 or the equivalent, not all from us, we did get her a few though but then people I wasn’t at all expecting to buy one for her did this year.

She’ll forget about them before she eats them all - like you there’s still selection box goodies left from Christmas. I’ve let her pretty much have what she wanted over the last few days - I’m not sure what she’s eaten would even add up to one medium egg. Her dad will polish a fair few off I’m sure, and there’s a cake sale coming up at school so we’ll probably use some for crispy cakes for that.

It’s wasteful and I will adjust accordingly next year - I can do that though as not in your position. But she’s not eating 10 to herself so I’m not worried about it being too much in that sense.

This is really interesting MissDoubleU. My children (now nearly adult) are autistic and they still have trouble distinguishing between anxiety and excitement. So Christmas and Birthday presents are not surprises. I cam see what you're saying though, these things don't have to be unchangeable.

Thank you.

I think 10 Easter eggs is absolutely madness.

It’s way too much chocolate (I say that as an chocoholic) and you’re paying through the nose for something that is so commercial.

I can’t imagine having 10 eggs lined up, it must look like Christmas or something.

I would definitely find ways to reduce this number.
I’m not sure why you set this rule anyway as of course it’s going to be hard to break for anyone, let alone for an autistic person.

If you’re happy to continue this then carry on but I do think it’s one of the maddest things I’ve read on here lol.

💖

i then read your reply after mine about why he wants a number and gets upset if doesn’t have 10 birthday /Xmas etx

ans happy with a pair of socks or choc bar for 79p

so I get why you buy 10

for the amount of chocolate you actually get in an Easter egg for the price it’s insane

better to buy small crème/ toffee /mint eggs for 49/59p each

@Pinkbleach what about mini eggs ? They can be used for decorate the chocolate cakes you make. Then you could have one big egg one smaller and then you could get like a cream egg sort of eggs .

Why do you care what anyone else thinks? I decorate with "easter tat" and put together a little basket with some toys, loads of MNers seem to hate this. Do what makes you amd your DC happy. Sod everyone else.

My word, no wonder child obesity is so high.

Ahh so it's you who has trouble with comprehension.

What I and many others are saying is this thread is pointless, as the OP is dead set on continuing what she's doing and has always done.

And has repeatedly said it would cause her DS too much upset to stop.

Nothing to do with 'humble bragging'.

I really can't make my posts any easier for you to understand, so at this point it's best I just give up replying to you.

Most of the eggs are actually not very nice, they aren't as nice as the chocolate bars they come with.

Whattt! It's the total opposite, in my opinion! Would never eat a bar of Dairy Milk but there's something about the exact same chocolate being in egg form that makes it irresistable!

This. This I say!

Don’t ask on here. You will get answers from posters calling you horrible names and who think you should be reported to Social Services. If I told Mumsnet what DS2 eats every day, there would be a feeding frenzy (pardon the pun.) He has OCD and I have reached the point where, if he’s prepared to eat it, he’s having it. In a battle of who will cave last, he will win because he would rather starve than worry about ‘contaminated’ food. So I am of the opinion that people who look as though they are doing things a bit weirdly, more often than not have a bloody good reason for it. And I’m certainly not in any place to judge.

I think 10 eggs is a lot.
But there are plenty of children from large extended families who probably get that many or more by the time that aunts, uncles, grandparents, family friends have chipped in.
So if your DC is also getting more eggs from other people that is definitely a large number.

But if you are convinced that your DS needs this to manage his routine, then go for it. I'm just not sure why you are posting for opinions if you are not actually interested in them. I would personally make it one small egg and 9 small "easter egg hunt" sized eggs, or simply reduce the number, and work on helping him manage the change (you have months to do this before next Easter), but I am not you and don't know your child.

It’s 10 chocolate eggs, not 10kg of cocaine. The overreaction on this thread is borderline hilarious. ‘Maddest thing I’ve read on here’, you must only open the tamest of threads.

Thank you .

Yes , this is it. It saves a lot of stress and upset.

Im not a “ woe is me “ person but it’s bloody hard . Some things aren’t about money but about keeping the peace.

He recently had a full meltdown - a bad one - around his birthday . I paid £75 for a cake ( milestone birthday ) I only do non shop bought cakes on milestone birthdays. The previous one was very good - it was fully decorated to a theme , think items made out of icing etc . I used a different baker , cried at the price , when I got it it was a plain cake ( beautiful don’t get me wrong ) but not decorated at all just some cardboard print outs on sticks stuck on the top. When he saw it I could see him trying to regulate , it was different to the ones he was used to … he could “ eat “ the pictures usually . He got really upset, then he was upset that he was being ‘ungrateful’ which led to a total meltdown. The week after he had a party and I got a different cake - a photo cake from Asda , he could ‘eat’ the picture . It cost me £10 . He loved it. So this shows me it’s not about cost or being spoilt - the cake was not what he expected and then when it happened with no warning he didn’t know how to deal with it or express it.

So , getting 10 eggs to save that is worth it to me

If it is just about the number, I got a bag of small, hollow chocolate eggs, so just like Easter eggs but the size of Creme Eggs from Lidl for a couple of quid. There was definitely way more than 10 in there as I split them between 3 kids, and they had 8 or so each. And if your child barely eats them anyway, you've saved a fortune there if you buy them.

I also still struggle greatly in adulthood to distinguish anxiety and excitement and I don’t like surprises either! So I absolutely understand this. My DP does still like to surprise me for my birthday but he will say something like, “I’ve gotten you a record from the list of albums you would like to own on vinyl” then the surprise is which one, rather than that it could be anything.

A present not being a surprise at all, in my opinion, is a very reasonable adjustment to make. Even as OP said, her sticking to ten presents I do not think is unreasonable when she says that those presents can be big or small. It gives the child an element of control and expectation that absolutely makes it easier.

If this extended in the same way to Easter (IE: 10 items for Easter. 3 large eggs, 2 small, a Lindt bunny, a bag of mini eggs, a cream egg ECT.) then this would also be reasonable. Where it becomes unreasonable is the child dictating that it must be 10 of the large full Easter eggs. That then translates to needing ten presents at Christmas, each just as big/exciting/expensive as the last.

I am interested - it seems it is extravagant. I’m not going to change what I do , that wasn’t the point of the post . But maybe it will stop me being defensive if people tell me it’s extravagant .

Exactly this. My 16yo autistic son is obsessed with the hunt part - the puzzle element. He probably wouldn't much care about there being chocolate at each step. In the week prior he's constantly on at me about if I've done the clues yet.

Quite honestly I imagine I'll still be doing this in decades time, just like my parents do for their grandkids - but just one egg at the end.

Gently, this is a ridiculous amount to spend, especially when you're paying for the chocolate to be in an egg shape and then melting it down anyway!

£53 on overpriced poor quality chocolate in a novelty shape is a waste whereas £53 on a hamper might well not be. My daughter got 1 egg, and her Easter basket had things like craft activities, a kite, and outdoor toys which will keep her occupied for months and encourage her to go outside, rather than just a vast mountain of chocolate she can't eat and I wouldn't want her to eat if she could.

If your oldest needs 10 eggs then you can get 10 eggs for a lot less. You can get Creme, Lindt or Kinder eggs that are the size of an actual egg, and they might have half a chance of getting eaten. Your youngest clearly doesn't need 10 eggs and it sounds like it's more about a compulsion that you have rather than the children.

Ten eggs does sound a lot, but actually if there’s only one large one, and the rest are small, that’s not so bad, although seven of the £2.30 is quite a lot.

It’s not 10 big eggs - it’s 10 Easter eggs . So an egg in a box . I don’t just get 10 small and he is used to that , but realistically I could . Usually I’ll get some of the others because the little ones don’t have chocolate bars . But not small hollow eggs . They have to be in a box to be considered Easter eggs to him.

He did ask this year if he could have one of the really large ones ( £10-15 ones ) . I said no . Even if I could afford that I wouldn’t , as I get myself committed to that each year then. I said he could have one but then he wouldn’t have 10 eggs . He chose to buy himself one, before Easter , then shared it with everyone . He also told me it was a rip off 🤣

You need to stop caring what other people think. Why do you care? I buy my children whatever I want and it’s no one else’s business.

I wouldn’t usually get 7 of those - they would usually be those £1.50 ones ( that go to 75p in Morrisons in the run up ) but I left it late , Asda had none of them . I thought paying an extra 80p each - so around £10 extra total - was worth it to allow me to just get them all at once and out of the way.

It was a good thing I did as over the week I went to a few supermarkets and noticed I didn’t see any of the little ones aside from a few random milky bar ones . The only place o saw these little ones that weren’t milky bar, were in my local newsagent and they were £2.50 each !

You could buy your child 1 creme egg and some people would still think it was extravagant. Own your decision. You are sure this is the right thing for you / your child so say "yes, it's a lot of chocolate, but worth it for us".

OP I voted YABU but honestly thinking about it I would definitely buy this many eggs if it would prevent a meltdown for an autistic child.