Am I being too crunchy?

[Jenn98]

I am hosting an Easter egg hunt for the girls and thier little friends. The average age will be just under two with a few new babies and a few three year olds. I'm a pretty big stickler for eating healthy and I was thinking of what I would put in the plastic eggs. So far I have thought of little boxes of raisins, stickers, those tiny containers of playdough, and plain M&M's, Goldfish and Honey Graham Bears. I know other moms in my playgroup let their kids eat all kinds of candy and sweets, but I'm just not comfortable with all that in the eggs. DH thinks I'm not putting anything "fun" in the eggs. He's mostly joking and fully supports the DD#1 eating healthy, but it got me thinking. At some of our playdates some of the other moms have commented on how healthy DD#1 eats. So, I need some input. Would you think I was "unfun" for not having jelly beans and tons of sugar in the eggs? If not, what else would you like to see in the eggs? TIA!!

[emilyf]

I think that's fine. My kids end up with plenty of candy around the holidays, most of which I toss. What you're planning I would be really happy with.
Emily mom of Charlie born 11/02 and Zoe born 9/05

[jenjenfirenjen]

I think that sounds just fine. My kids would be thrilled with those choices. Honestly, I know some moms that wouldn't even do the M&Ms, goldfish or Teddy Grahams. Someone else here suggested freeze dried fruit (like the Just Tomatoes brand you can get at Whole Foods.) Both of my boys love that stuff so I'll definitely be putting that in their eggs. I also found some cute little toys at US Toy that will fit in a large plastic egg.

[BeachBum]

First off I'd love to hear more about the plans for your egg hunt. :) Are you having any other games/ treats/ food? We are doing one too and it sounds like our guests will be about the same age. My son will be 19 mo and most of his "friends" are about the same age.

We decided not to put anything in our eggs. We are letting them trade in their eggs for a "goodie bag" at the end. I have some other favors I got from oriental trading et al that I wanted to include. Also after watching my son in action with the eggs I thought all goodies would fall on the ground.


As for your specific question about being "unfun" no--I would appreciate being junk free. The other idea I had for "in" the eggs was temporary tattoos.

[kijip]

All of that stuff sounds pretty normal to me! If anything, that is what the "non-crunchy" parents do around here. And you are the hostess- do what you think your child and the others will enjoy. If you want other food ideas, you could do dried berries too. I am not a big fan of jelly beans (just give me the chocolate, LOL) but there are sugar free ones around if you want some. My son would *love* your egg snacks.

I have to say the only time I wondered about another parent's food choice at a party was when they had dry, hard, whole grain "cupcakes" for their kids birthday for all of the kids (allergies were not the issue) AND they also had gooey chocolate torte for the parents. I figure if the 2 year olds have to watch their parents eat chocolate while they get a dry fake cake, they have a right to be baffled. :)

[Beth568]

Well, if you invited my kids to that event, I'd be thrilled. I try to minimize the candy and junk my kids get. I see nothing wrong with a few treats, but for children that young, I think lots of candy can be a problem, because they can't really understand when or how to stop.

I say stick with what makes you comfortable. If the other parents want their kids to have crap, they can give it to the children themselves.

[Jenn98]

I'm still mulling around ideas since I just commited to having the egg hunt last night. I told people that it was from 10am-12pm, which is often the time span of most of our play dates. I figure that gives them enough time to play around and eat a bit before we decorate our bags. I think I'm gonna get small colored bags and let them color them and put those sticky foam shapes/cut-outs on them. Then we will have the egg hunt (basically just my back lawn sprinkled with eggs!) at 11:15ish. And then they go home. :)

As far as food, I'll probably do a lot since I also invited dads and anyone else who wants to come (I didn't want any grandmas who might be in town to feel bad if they wanted to come). I was thinking a quiche or sausage/egg bake, fresh fruit, bagels and cheese and crackers (and maybe jell-o, some homemade cut-out cookies, and cupcakes - hence, why I don't think the healthy egg fillers are so bad!)

The only other thing I was thinking I might do is to have some bunnies or egg print outs to color for the older kids.

What are you planning?

[miki]

I think it's fine. I am the health foodie so obviously I wouldn't mind. I really didn't like my 2 year old getting jelly beans in the egg she brought home from school last year. It turned out some of the other moms who are not sticklers for healthy snacks didn't like it either since we all had to spend so much time brushing teeth to get the sticky bits off.

[Marisa6826]

I think the stuff you have planned is totally appropriate for that age group. We do candy here *very* rarely. It's too easy to fall into a habit with it. Once in a blue moon, I might let them share a half a single serve pack of M&Ms.

The bottom line is your house, your party, your food choices. I wouldn't give it another thought. :)

-m

[SnuggleBuggles]

They could even be healthier (like organic fish crackers and grahm snacks, no raisins as they are my dentist's pet peeve since they stick in the teeth- he'd rather kids eat chocolate). :)

But, I think they are great the way they are though. :) I'd be happy to have my little one get those sorts of things in their egg. Plenty of time for sweets later and their parents can always provide that stuff if they want to on their own.

Great ideas!
Beth