I never believed in the Easter Bunny. He just didn’t make sense. We lived where there were tons of jackrabbits, literally. They were so destructive to the crops that all the farmers would have rabbit drives. Droves of adults and kids would run through the sage brush hollering and hitting the brush with bats or sticks and scare/herd the rabbits into large wired pens. (Think of it as a demented Easter egg hunt where we looked for the rabbit instead of the eggs.) One car game I failed to mention earlier was counting the number of road kill rabbits on the way to town. Double digits. Another reason I couldn’t believe in the Easter Bunny was my grandpa used to come out and load us grandkids in the back of his station wagon and take us up on the hill to target practice on . . . you guessed it, jackrabbits. But even if I hadn’t been desensitized to rabbits, I don’t think I would have believed there was an Easter Bunny, because often our Easter baskets were trays just like this one:
Mom spread green Easter grass in the bottom and then made a little pile of jelly beans, a little pile of malt balls, a little pile of bubble gum eggs along with a few Peeps and Reeses peanut butter eggs and a sprinkling of little, foil-covered, chocolate eggs. Each tray had a little strip of paper with our name on it and she hid them in the house (inside the dryer, the game closet, the kitchen cupboard, under the couch, etc.) and when we woke up Easter morning we looked until we found ours. I’d seen rabbits in the yard. I’d seen rabbits in the pasture. I’d seen rabbits in the fields. I’d seen rabbits in the sagebrush. I’d seen rabbits crossing the road. I knew there was no way a rabbit could hop and carry a tray (let alone ten) and still keep the candy in neat little piles. No sir. There was no such thing as an Easter Bunny. Reindeer that could fly, yes. But an Easter Bunny that could deliver neat piles of candy on a tray. No.
Did you believe in the Easter Bunny? How did your mind justify unscrambled baskets?
11 comments:
Ha Mom you are funny. So practical. I love Easter at our house...not because that is the one time of year they make Reeses Eggs with a great peanut butter:chocolate ratio (although that is a definate plus)...but because of ham gravy and Dad watching The Ten Commandments.
Scrooge here, no Easter Bunny, no Halloween, but Santa yes. I loved Elder Hollands talk and it put such a great perspective on Easter. That is how I want to Celebrate my Easter.
Oh this was a funny one! You had me laughing. I wondered where my easter bunny got the idea for hiding baskets! I always was confused why ours were hidden but not my friends. haha. Now I know it's a tradition. TRADITION (music in bacground from Fiddler on the roof) haha.
Yep. I believed it all.
I don't really think I ever really had a belief in the Easter Bunny. My mom didn't seem to into it, therefore I am not to into it. We get the boys a few small things, but I sometimes would rather not get them anything. I don't remember getting them anything last year. I think I'll get some sidewalk chalk, bubbles and few snacks they like and call it good. Don't want my 1st grader to be the only one who doesn't get something! Is that bad parenting - not wanting the other kids to make fun of your kid?
This is the first year that no one believes in the Easter Bunny anymore at our house! Claire was the last to fall. We always got Easter dresses in our baskets and mom hid the eggs all over the house. I believed a long time and never had any thoughts about the bunny messing up the baskets. In Norway there is no bunny, just the Easter chicken! Makes more sense with the egg thing!
Oh Mama,
This was funny. What did you do with the jack rabbits once they were penned up? Hmmmmm? Did you kill them? If I remember correctly, you did. I agree with Ande; I loved our Easters. I loved the baskets, Dad watching Ten Commandments or Ben Hurr, and I LOVED hard boiled eggs. I still hate ham gravy though. It's so sunny here today and in the high 70's. (I don't want to jinx us, so shhhh, I think this will be the first Easter in my 25 history where the wind won't blow the eggs out of your basket while you search for them and you won't have to debate if the egg is worth pulling your cold hands out of your warm pocket)
I love you. Thanks for a great childhood.
Cali
Oh, I believed it ALL. Probably far too long. Or, maybe not long enough, depending on how you look at things. Chance is on the verge of non-belief (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy), and it's almost sad to watch. I treasure the years of blind faith.
I am a double standard. I don't have a problem with Santa Claus, even though I try to reinforce to my boys about the true meaning of Christmas. But, even so, I love all the Ho Ho Hos and reindeer and down the chimney stories too.
But, I pretty strongly dislike the Easter Bunny. It offends me. Isn't that weird? I don't have a problem with all the new birth stuff...the eggs and chicks and flowers etc. But a big bunny delivering it all? Yes. Yes, I do.
The boys get baskets but I don't even pretend they are not from me.
Loved your story. You are just so likable.
If I had my choice, I would be anti-Easter Bunny. My MIL gets really into making clues and having them find their baskets. It is nostalgic for Linc, so I can't squash that.
My side of the family does a purple egg picnic every year (the purple egg has $20 inside and is SO HARD to find) We do it after Easter, so it is more of a spring thing. We take our candy and hide it with our girls and they just think it is fun.
Growing up I believed it ALL. Sadly, one sunny afternoon in Texas when I was 12, my sister (who was 6) spilled the beans about EVERYTHING, including the birds and the bees. I guess that is what happens when your little sister goes to daycare and you didn't. Quite an odd way of finding out. My mom was horrified when we went in to ask her ALL about it!
I struggle now as a mom, because my Ty is very black and white. I think he is going to be really upset with me and think that I have been lying to him. Any suggestions on how to explain?
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