Mailbag: Where Did Egg Hunt Fun Go?

Jesse Tinsley: I went to the Dave Smith car lot in CdA today to shoot a feature photo of their annual Easter egg hunt for tomorrow’s paper and was horrified by the pushing, shoving and greed involved in egg hunts. Parents were pushing their kids to front of the lines and pointing out things they should grab when the hunt starts. The greed and competition takes the fun out it, I think. A few years ago my toddler son was shoved to the ground while trying to take part in the Post Falls egg hunt. All he wanted was to find an egg or two. I don’t think I’ll ever take my kid to another public Easter egg hunt. Too rough, kids get too greedy and there is no time to savor the joy of hunting for eggs because it’s all about grabbing as many as you can while the weaker kids end up empty-handed and crying. Where did the fun go?

DFO: Sounds like you experienced an Easter Egg Hunt version of Sports Mom and Sports Dad. I simply can’t understand pushy parents. They either replicate themselves and create pushy, spoiled children. Or they turn off their kids. I ached for my kids when they were treated unfairly by a coach or a teacher. But they survived without my interference and so did I.