And a happy Easter to you!

This past weekend One Philly Family went to a local park for a candy scramble sponsored by the local Kiwanis club.

It was great, and, I thought, well organized. There were different age groups so the "hunting" (to be honest, it was a field covered in candy and Hershey kisses) was fair, and there were small chocolate bunnies as a give away for each participating child sponsored by local businesses.

To add a competitive edge to the fun, there were 3 eggs hidden for each age group, and the children who found these eggs won a larger chocolate bunny.

All in all, a great family outing, and I wouldn't change a thing.

They did make one small request though.

"This is for the kids" they said. "Parents, please let the children find the candy and look for the eggs themselves, this is their time."

A simple request, thoughtful and touching,
I thought. But, I also thought, maybe unnecessary. I didn't suppose there'd be Mom's and Dad's elbowing 4 year olds to get to the last Werther's. I mean, this is Easter, right?

But, I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong.

I "hunted" with One Philly Daughter in the under 36 month category and watched when One Philly Daddy took his turn hunting with One Philly Son, who "competed" in the 3,4,5,6 year old category. He's 3 so I just wanted him to have fun; One Philly Daughter managed to capture 6 Hershey kisses, I was proud of that.

As I watched my boys make their way to the starting line and wait for their fellow hunters to gather at the line, I felt a certain giddiness for them - the excitement of the hunt!

Then, I heard next to me :

"Push to the front! Tell him to PUSH to the
FRONT"

"Behind that rock, in the middle! An ORANGE EGG! PUSH to the FRONT! Get the EGG!"

"God! Tell him to push to the front!"

Ahem.

Please, revisit with me the facts of the day:
1. Free
2. An event organized for children
3. Guaranteed candy
4. Guaranteed "prize" regardless of performance
5. A stated, specific request to let this be about the kids having fun

The patriarch in the family (not the chanter) next to me went on to recount how he and his friends devised a plan to cheat the egg hunts when he was a child, in order to guarantee winning a prize.

So it's a family tradition, then. Tradition is important.

I don't want to rant or climb on a soapbox, but cheating and publicly encouraging a child to cheat don't exactly say "Easter" to me.

Geez!

So, Happy Easter to ya. I'm sure this is just what Jesus had in mind...