The Observer Newspapers | Letter:Parents Behave Badly at Easter Egg Hunt

April 3, 2008

Parents Behave Badly at Easter Egg Hunt

On the Saturday before Easter, my husband and I brought our family to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Herndon High School. Despite the sleet that eventually dampened the festivities, our 2-year-old son thoroughly enjoyed the animals, the magician and seeing the Easter Bunny. However, the egg hunt itself was a nightmare. I was absolutely appalled (and I'm sure I was not the only one) by the behavior of many of the parents and grandparents during the hunt.

For those who are not familiar with how the hunt works, the organizers divide the children into age groups and start them off at different times, presumably to ensure that the older children don't storm over the little ones and to give all the children a chance to get some eggs.

This is a great idea, except for the fact that instead of 7-year-olds stealing eggs from the 2-year-olds, the parents were the ones doing the stealing. While I was trying to guide my son to learn to pick up his own eggs, parents all around me were picking them up for their children. While my son managed to get one egg (which I had to guard to give him the time to muster up the courage to reach down and get it amongst the mob of hands snatching up the eggs that were right next to his feet), other children had buckets filled to the brim with eggs. Upon exiting the hunt area, I was in shock. I couldn't believe how an adult could take something away from a child when it was obvious that the child was trying to get it.

These are the same type of parents who do their kids homework for them and yell obscenities at other kids during soccer games. Unfortunately, I learned long ago as an elementary school teacher that there are some parents out there who are so competitive that they put "winning" above all else, even their own child.

I cheered for my son for the one egg he did manage to get; he did it on his own and was so excited. As parents, our job is to guide our children to develop into kind, hard-working, socially aware and responsible individuals who can then enjoy the fruits of their own labors. When parents literally hand the fruits (or eggs, in this case) to their child, they are really taking away something: their chance to learn, experience, and—most importantly—have fun.

Catherine Wilkins

Herndon