Standing in line at Walmart on Sunday I couldn’t help but notice the types of loot parents are now putting in their kid’s Easter baskets. Handheld gaming consoles, video games, tablet computers, MP3 players, Furbies…expensive electronics and toys. I even saw one mom buying an electric scooter! How big is that child’s basket, woman?!?!
When did this happen? As a child, I remember getting a nice Easter basket that had a moderate amount of candy and one special, yet inexpensive toy inside. It was exhilarating! I was so happy just to get a basket to carry around! Today baskets have even been replaced by fancy totes, monogrammed buckets and wooden boxes. The Easter bunny delivers BASKETS people! Not gold-plated Radio Flyers!
It’s no wonder my son has looked at his Easter basket a few times and been like, “Rip off.” Now he has never said this out loud and is always thankful, but you can just tell. He knows that he gets less than some of his friends. Thanks parents who have now turned Easter into a commercial mini-Christmas. What.The.Hell.
In my anger and disgust over the whole Easter is for Paris Hilton shopping trip, I didn’t realize I had grabbed 13,678 bags of candy, 923 chocolate bunnies, enough jelly beans to keep a small country fed for a year and several toys for my daughter’s basket! I was in such a mad fury I became a parent who has turned Easter into a commercial mini-Christmas. Maybe that’s how it happens. Women go shopping pissed and end up buying way more than they had anticipated.
How much do you spend on your child’s Easter basket? What’s inside?
