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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I need to know stats on how many people tell their kids the easter bunny is a real thing like Santa

90 replies

supples · 05/04/2026 00:03

Seeing how many people are on taking about it like this is blowing my mind!

yabu - I tell them it’s real
yanbu - no I don’t

OP posts:
Riapia · 05/04/2026 07:44

Meadowfinch · 05/04/2026 01:07

I don't know the percentages but I listened to a dad telling a 4yo girl, today in Tesco carpark, that the Easter bunny was a bit like Father Christmas. She wouldn't actually see him but he would hide Easter eggs in nana's garden on Saturday night.

I can hear our school rector revolving in his grave with fury. 😁 He hated anything other than ecclesiastical reverence for Easter.

Yet the school rector is a member of an organisation that has perpetuated a myth for over two thousand years.
😉😁.

LamentableShoes · 05/04/2026 07:46

If I tried to convince my kids there was a real Easter Bunny they'd definitely have started questioning Father Christmas a lot earlier.

Easter Bunny is a very weak myth so i don't care about it and have never told my kids it's a real thing. I wanted to keep the one true Santa real for as long as possible!

In reality they absolutely love that DH does a special Easter egg hunt for them. They know we've bought them all the eggs and made a game of it and they are very sweet and appreciative of it.

NormasArse · 05/04/2026 07:46

We used to have Easter hunts in my grandparents’ garden, over 50 years ago. I can’t remember whether the bunny was given credit though.

AliasGrape · 05/04/2026 07:55

BewareoftheLambs · 05/04/2026 00:14

I have never suggested there's a real Easter Bunny, or made a thing of it, but dd has still managed to convince herself this year. I'm going along with it as it's clearly giving her pleasure, but other than our usual Easter egg hunt around the house, I won't be doing anything different.

I’ve voted that I do tell DD it’s real - but it’s really more this.

I was aware of the bunny as a general concept when I was a child but we didn’t have egg hunts and I don’t think I was led to believe the bunny delivered the eggs I received - so long ago I can’t remember. DH did have the bunny and the hunt in the garden he says.

We have done a hunt for DD the past few years and maybe a few jokey references to ‘the bunny’ but I didn’t really go OTT with it. This year she’s absolutely convinced herself that it’s all real and the excitement levels going to bed last night were almost, but not quite, Christmas Eve worthy.

I’ve run with it as she’s enjoying it all so much. She’s 5 and this feels like we’re at the peak of believing in magical stuff - fairies in the garden she writes notes to, tells me often that she definitely believes in mermaids and thinks she saw one once etc. So she can have the bunny for a year or two, and I did make it as if the bunny had hidden the eggs. But I’ve not gone to town trying to make it believable - she saw me buying some of them, the clues were on paper notes she already owns and pretty obviously in my hand writing, it’s fairly evident it’s a game and if she asked I’d just tell her - whereas I’m more inclined to keep Father Christmas as believable as possible for as long as possible.

Lilyhatesjaz · 05/04/2026 08:00

I never mentioned the Easter bunny to my DC, it was something I had never even heard of when I was a child, I had easter eggs given to me by parents and grandparents.
My DC came home from primary school talking about the easter bunny, I was a bit annoyed as I didn't want them to believe it. I don't think they ever really did, we had an egg hunt in the garden but me and my dad hid the eggs.
I was happy to go along with santa.

birdglasspen · 05/04/2026 08:02

No I don’t tell my kids the Easter bunny is real, it would be insulting their intelligence for a start! Kids don’t have to believe in nonsense to be excited…just give them an Easter egg. Or an egg hunt with no “bunny”. I think it’s a great time to learn about spring and all the birds and animals that start appearing. But then I’m not religious.

carnivalqueenthethird · 05/04/2026 08:05

I have never mentioned it before, however I just posted on another thread because my son started school last September and he is convinced that Easter is like Christmas and has been talking non stop about the Easter bunny. I had been completely avoiding the conversation until yesterday when I was trying to concentrate on drilling something (new to DIY) and my son asked me about 10 times in 2 minutes where the Easter bunny lives. For some reason, in frustration to get him to change the subject, I decided to point at the manhole cover on my drive so he now thinks she’s lives in the drains and if he flushes the toilet she will drown.

Made it 100 times worse for myself.

MrThorpeHazell · 05/04/2026 08:12

SpiritAdder · 05/04/2026 00:28

I have always been clear that neither the Easter bunny or Santa are real.

Makes 2 of us.

Santa/Father Christmas has always been a figure based on St Nicholas in our house as he's the saint of our parish church.

The Easter Bunny has never been mentioned.

supples · 05/04/2026 08:24

Gertle · 05/04/2026 07:25

I’ve read a lot online lately that people think it’s a new thing or an American import but 30 years ago as I child I definitely believed the Easter bunny brought me eggs and all of my friends did as well.

We do the Easter bunny although it’s not as big as Santa. We don’t hide the eggs. They are just there in the morning and we don’t have any rituals or Easter bunny lore. If asked eg how the bunny got in I am very non-committal and unsure.

I think it’s just a fun thing like Santa and the tooth fairy. I struggle to understand how so many people are fine with those two but the Easter bunny is too much. To me, if I am happy with the other magical characters, why not let the bunny be the one to bring the eggs?

Yes I am curious about this - I agree it makes no sense, but I don’t know anyone growing up who thought EB was real, and I guess I’ve never checked in my circle if anyone is telling their kids it is now. Clearly they are at my kids’ school.

I understand the accusations of uptightness but really I’m more interested in the social phenomenon. Clearly some people were doing it years ago but it must have spread now? We always rolled eggs as kids and I’ve always done hunts for the kids, but it’s always been a tradition and no imaginary figures involved!

OP posts:
Hotandpointy · 05/04/2026 08:24

I don’t tell my DC it’s real, anymore than I tell him Santa is real, it’s just a bit of fun and he likes to pretend. He also doesn’t think fairies, monsters and superheroes are real, it’s called imagination.

Sartre · 05/04/2026 08:26

Think this is just an Americanism than never really took off over here. I don’t remember my mum ever once mentioning it when we were younger, we just got chocolate eggs on the day. I do a garden egg hunt with mine and say the Easter bunny left those ones. Don’t really make a big exciting song and dance over Easter in the way I do Christmas though.

oustedbymymate · 05/04/2026 08:29

Same as @BewareoftheLambswe make a mix bigger deal of Santa but Easter… I did a little hunt around the house and the kids got an egg and book each. They are 3 and 6. Enjoyed the hunt had half an egg for breakfast. They know the story of Jesus (but then we do beavers so they have also learn there) job done.

supples · 05/04/2026 08:31

Lilyhatesjaz · 05/04/2026 08:00

I never mentioned the Easter bunny to my DC, it was something I had never even heard of when I was a child, I had easter eggs given to me by parents and grandparents.
My DC came home from primary school talking about the easter bunny, I was a bit annoyed as I didn't want them to believe it. I don't think they ever really did, we had an egg hunt in the garden but me and my dad hid the eggs.
I was happy to go along with santa.

This is me - I feel the same about the elf on the shelf - like either I go along with what others are teaching my kids or I disappoint them, I don’t really like being put in that position. The elf I felt no choice after resisting for a few years, but I just can’t bring myself when asked if EB is real, to go along with it!

OP posts:
Roundofapause · 05/04/2026 08:32

I tell my 4 year old it's real. However, just the other day he told me that the Easter Bunny isn't alive and the chocolate eggs come from shops, so he doesn't necessarily believe me, already!
I believed as a child and it made Easter more magical, just like Christmas, but i won't force it if he's worked it out.

Blondeshavemorefun · 05/04/2026 08:32

I buy the eggs. Mini blondes knows this and obv Father Christmas does the stocking and small pressie. Rest comes from me

CaffeinatedMum · 05/04/2026 08:34

I’ve never made out the Easter bunny is real. My eldest has asked me and I just asked him what does he think? The only reason I’ve not denied it outright is because he’s already suspicious Santa isn’t real and he’s only 5, I’d like another year of the Christmas magic! Anyway he came downstairs today saw his Easter egg and straight away said ‘he must be real’ so I’m just letting him go with it.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/04/2026 08:38

The Easter Bunny was never a thing when I was a child, so we never did it with dds, and AFAIK dd doesn’t do it with the Gdcs, but they always seem to have an Easter Egg hunt in the garden, with other children invited.

Lisanne55 · 05/04/2026 08:40

As a child, I had never heard of the Easter Bunny. We were given boxed Easter eggs by our parents, grandparents and other relatives. I did the same with my children. A few times, we did an Easter Egg hunt in the garden, but we just got them to wait whilst we hid the eggs.

123teenagerfood · 05/04/2026 08:52

My children had father christmas, easter bunny and tooth fairy, as i did as a child. Very early they dismissed FC and the EB as being impossible. The tooth fairy, well i am sure they stil believe as late teens, ha ha, one asked the dentist when he was 10 about her! All very strange. It could be the £1 she left though.

SoUncertain · 05/04/2026 08:54

My parents did Easter egg hunts for us as kids in the 90s, which we believed were from the waster bunny. My 6yo daughter fiercely believes in the Easter bunny as she has seen him - my aunt dressed up as the Easter bunny and we watched the bunny hiding eggs in my grandmother's garden. This has happened two years in a row and there may be another sighting later!

Not for social media, just for family fun and very excited child 🐰

AlwaysTheRenegade · 05/04/2026 08:55

Ponoka7 · 05/04/2026 00:55

They were handing out carrots in the Asda, for the Easter Bunny. Tbf the children looked confused. The staff member had ears on. Disclaimer I have to say 'the Asda' coming from Liverpool.

I've always celebrated Easter as a mini Christmas, but never declared the EB to be real. My children had special personalised tooth fairy cushions and I do Christmas Eve boxes etc.

I saw an advert for this today! They said to leave a carrot out on "Easter eve" Confused

CleanSkin · 05/04/2026 08:57

Easter treasure hunt for fun? Yes.
Lying about a magical rabbit? No.

ETA - just seen PP’s accidental reference to the “waster bunny”. Would definitely have taken that myth on!

Leapintothelightning · 05/04/2026 08:58

The Easter bunny wasn’t a thing when I was growing up (I’m 34), not with anyone I knew anyway. My 6yo asked me on Friday if the Easter bunny was going to bring her eggs and I just said no, she’s been given eggs from us and grandparents and she accepted that fine. Apparently she heard of the Easter bunny through Bluey.

AliasGrape · 05/04/2026 09:03

supples · 05/04/2026 08:31

This is me - I feel the same about the elf on the shelf - like either I go along with what others are teaching my kids or I disappoint them, I don’t really like being put in that position. The elf I felt no choice after resisting for a few years, but I just can’t bring myself when asked if EB is real, to go along with it!

See I’m the opposite, I don’t mind the Easter Bunny but we’ll never have elf on the bastard shelf!

We talk about ‘the elves’ though - they leave a chocolate coin in DD’s fabric advent calendar each night or sometimes a little extra nice thing like some baking ingredients will appear, but there’s no physical elf that I have to move and it’s more an imaginary game like the fairies in the garden.

scalt · 05/04/2026 09:05

When I was a child, the Easter bunny used to talk to me while he hid the eggs in the garden. I was blindfolded so I couldn’t see that it was one of my parents speaking in an Easter bunny voice. I loved it!

Plastic tat - tick.
What fresh hell is this - tick.
Mumsnet bingo.
”very weak myth” is a new one. Easter Grin

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