View Full Version : Question about Easter Basket thread - toys/books vs candy
Phoebe
03-09-2005, 06:22 PM
For those who posted in the Easter basket thread about the toys and books they would be filling the basket with, are you giving you kids candy too?
What happened to just giving a little bit of candy and some pretty colored eggs? And maybe one little non-consumable item.
I loved the gift ideas many of you mentioned, but I hadn't really planned on 'Christmas in the Spring'. Especially considering I was truly inspired by a recent thread about less toys, less plastic and more imaginative play. I've since gotten rid of a bunch of toys and packed away those I couldn't part with.
The ideas for Spring related items were great - kites, bubbles, seed packets, butterfly net. I think I'll choose one of those to add to the candy in their basket.
Mary
jillmk
03-10-2005, 12:34 PM
We're putting a little candy in my daughter's basket, but that is really for us! (Reeses PB eggs.) Besides that, we're going with little "spring" things as well--bubbles, a tube of Easter Little People, etc. My daughter is only 18 months and has zero interest in candy, even if offered. I'd prefer to keep it that way for now, and I think toys are more fun. I guess maybe we go overboard, but I love it. I guess I'll take any excuse to buy more toys for her!
vpalmer
03-10-2005, 01:20 PM
I admittedly go overboard as well. I justify it because I only buy Eva toys, books, DVDs and art supplies for special occasions like holidays and her birthday. Stickers are her obsession at the moment and rather than just buy her some while we are at Target, I am choosing to put them in her basket instead. The same goes with the DVD and CD we bought. My DH was wishing he had a Wiggles CD for his vehicle because she loves the CD so much that is in my car. So that will go into the basket as well. Yes, we will add a little candy as well, but it most likely it will be just a few novelty items like the Jelly Belly 'carrot' and a small Hershey's chocolate bunny on a stick I found at Target.
Veronica
Mom to Eva
Born 6-03
vikivoly
03-10-2005, 05:42 PM
We'll be giving candy as well as 2 DVD's, a CD, a jump rope, a small ballerina bunny and some small Sesame Steet figures. I'm also going to put some fruit flavored Chapstick in it, since she loves that. We bought a small solid chocolate ballerina for her basket, but she found it and has already eaten her legs. :) I have a small chocolate Mickey Mouse and will buy some jelly beans and a few other pieces of candy, perhaps an Easter Pez. BTW, she's 2.
Growing up we got mostly candy and one or two small, inexpensive toys. I guess I figure I'll end up eating the candy, and I don't want to do that, so I'm not putting as much in this year.
redhookmom
03-10-2005, 06:01 PM
Mary, you and my dh should get together. He is bewildered by my toy/book purchases.
luvtoshop
03-10-2005, 06:38 PM
Hi--LOL over "Christmas in Spring" sooo true! I was equally inspired by the imaginative play thread and also made changes in my house. I have put away 95% of the toys in our house and have incorporated toys that I feel will have "meaning and longevity" -- that's how I'm making my current purchases.
Maybe it's just my rationale for continuing to shop...but I do feel like our play time has improved in quality. I recently purchased 2 all plastic dolls and dd can spend hours bathing them in the sink or big tupperware container on the floor. I am also purchasing a lot of wooden toys that I know will last. So, that's what I am currently giving as gifts for holidays, etc...
I will not put candy in her basket, simply because she's too young (2) to know that most Easter baskets have candy. :) When she asks for it is when I'll surrender. I grew up making Easter egg cookies and thought of doing that this Easter...it's no wonder my refrigerator is currently filled with girl scout cookies--I'll blame my weakness for cookies on my mom. :)
brittone2
03-10-2005, 08:04 PM
As someone else mentioned, we don't buy toys the rest of the year really, so I don't think it is excessive to buy a few small toys for his Easter basket. We're giving 2 books, bubbles, a set of stockmar beeswax crayons, and maybe a Holztiger bunny. Possibly an "egg shaker" maraca. DS will be 13 months at Easter, so no candy for a while hopefully.
I often buy quite a bit for holidays, but I pretty much save any ideas I have for a few months and don't buy until a holiday or event is coming up. We aren't ones to buy a toy a week at Walmart or something, so I don't think our current system is excessive because overall, DS has only about 1/4 (or less) the number of toys of most other kids I know his age.
We don't buy DVDs, no saucer, no jumper, no "activity garden", no leapstart products, etc. So while many items in his Easter basket (even though he's not getting many items) aren't cheap, they will last a while and I still feel like we spend waaaay less overall on toys than most people we know.
Saartje
03-10-2005, 10:00 PM
Hm... not that I've posted in, or even read in a while, the thread you're referencing, but here's my answer.
For one thing, in my household, Ishie is way too young for candy. Both this year, and probably at least next year as well. If I get around to it (if I finish my current project in time to whip that one out), I'll make him an Easter basket this year, and I'll probably fill it with a book (I'd like to have more books for him anyway), a couple of dyed eggs (which will be thrown out after a day at room temperature), and maybe a few blocks or something (since he's too young for the other Spring-related toys suggested, as well -- and I'm talking about blocks, or something of the sort, that I either have put back until he's old enough for them, or that have been rotated out of his current play-with grouping).
My goal is to celebrate the holiday in the way I choose to, retaining some of the fun I recall from my own holiday (especially dyeing and hiding eggs, when he's older; and getting a basket of goodies) without replicating the parts I didn't like all that much as a kid and like even less now (getting lots of candy that left me feeling gross and some stuffed bunnies that I wouldn't have wanted any other time of the year any more than I did at Easter).
I'm still going for the fewer toys, more imaginative play philosophy; but I really don't think the way of observing this holiday that I described is going to hamper that in any way. As Ish gets older, I expect I'll add a few more consumable gifts (seeds, bubbles) and a little more ritual (dyeing the eggs, hiding and hunting for them, finding the surprise basket first thing in the morning -- not sure if it will be left by the Easter Bunny or not).
Phoebe
03-10-2005, 10:25 PM
I didn't mean to imply that gift giving at Easter was excessive - I actually really liked all the suggested goodies. Especially the books. Never a bad time to give books. Picking out several gifts was just news to me, that was all.
I guess I just don't want to turn *every* holiday into something where my kids expect to receive a toy. They're too young to have expectations now, but everything we currently do is precedent setting.
Last year my nephews hid eggs in the back yard for Daisy and she LOVED it. Watching her was just so much fun. And of course I understand that lots of babies on the boards are too young for candy.
Speaking of books, my mom gave my kids two bunny related board books last year that were really cute. One was "If you were my little bunny" and the other was "What do bunnies do all day". Not sure if anyone mentioned those in the other thread, but I thought I'd share.
Mary
Saartje
03-10-2005, 10:46 PM
Sorry, Mary, I didn't mean to suggest that you implied (how's that for a long string of suggestions and implications? ;) ) that Easter gift giving was excessive. I was sort of typing aloud in that post, so I may have come across as defensive or argumentative when I was, in fact, merely thoughtful. (And explaining to myself as well as anyone who happened to be reading.)
I, too, will be looking to keep my child from expecting a toy on every occasion... though I think, on the whole, I'd rather he expect a small toy on every holiday than have him expect a plastic toy on every trip to the grocery store. (ETA: not to say it must be one or the other; I'm just weighing them against one another in my mind.)
I'll also say that most of the suggestions I saw in the list (I just went back and read the other thread) were either books, small (kites, etc.), or consumable (bath tints and crayons, bubbles). So I do think those all fit in with the goal of not having so much stuff that a child can't play with it all, even if not with the goal of having the child not expect a "thing" on a holiday. Again, though, IMHO, giving consumables fills that goal pretty well; bubbles and candy get used up about equally well, I'd say, and one doesn't promote poor dietary habits (a big concern of mine).
Again, just my thoughts, and again I'm weighing things out in my mind as I write this, so if I've offended you, feel free to let me know so I can revise either my thinking or the words I've used in expressing my thoughts, whichever is appropriate. :)
jubilee
03-11-2005, 02:39 AM
I will be filing baskets for both boys, and both will have a small amount of candy. For Logan I will take 4-5 plastic eggs and put 5 jelly beans in them or a marshmellow bunny/peep. That is plenty for him (and too much by many mom's standards). For Jacob (my teenager) I will put a small pack of peeps in his basket as well as something small and chocolate. The rest of the baskets will be a DVD for each of them (Incredibles and Thomas the Train), a shirt and book for Jacob, and a few small toys for Logan. I'll probably spend about $30 on each of them- that I would have spent eventually anyway, now it's just focused on one day.
brittone2
03-11-2005, 08:54 AM
I agree with the PP who said she hopes to make the holiday more about traditions down the road. I think that is the most memorable and enjoyable part of a holiday after all. Dying eggs, having an Easter egg hunt, etc. are tons of fun and very inexpensive. My mom and I used to dye eggs every year with my niece (now 11) and we all remember it fondly. She still talks about it :) She's now several states away and it is isn't an option, but I hope it is something she always remembers because my mom and I sure do remember :)
Phoebe
03-11-2005, 02:56 PM
Oh, gosh no offense taken at all.
I know what you mean about the candy/junk food issue. My kids don't care too much about sweets, and since my dh and I don't eat candy, it's not around the house normally. So I feel ok offering it at Halloween and Easter. However, niether of my kids have big appetites so if they eat a cookie before a meal, well they're none too interested in the meal anymore.
Mary
DD 4/01
DS 6/03
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