Peyton does get treats, don't get me wrong, but that's exactly what they are; treats. He might go a whole month without ever eating a cookie or having a few bites of ice cream, but he doesn't know the difference yet so I'm okay with that. I figure that just as it's important for me to be at home with him during these formative years, it's just as important to make sure he develops a love for fruits and vegetables in these early years too. One of these days, he will get wise to the fact that he's not getting as many goodies as his buddies; he'll go to elementary school and trade things from his lunch to get the Hostess Cupcake or wait until middle school and buy snacks from the vending machine since Mom can't be everywhere telling him to make healthy choices.
So it came as no surprise that when I went to look for ideas for Easter basket stuff, I stood for an indeterminably long time staring down aisle after aisle at all of the chocolate and sugary confections with a cold sort of dread. I knew Peyton would be going on an Easter egg hunt or two before the actual holiday so it wasn't like this child wasn't going to get his fair share of goodies before 'E' day. Finally I found some things tucked away here and there like fun toys and filler ideas, some of which were a little too advanced for him but others I saw were just right. Here is what I told the Easter Bunny to compile for my little guy this year:
A bunny version of Mr. Potato Head, two Golden Books {one which was aptly titled 'The Bunny Book'}, a set of two Play-Doh stamper eggs {stamps on the bottom, playdough inside the egg}, a pinwheel to play with, and a box of honey graham bunnies and a box of bunny shaped fruit snacks.
If you've never tried any of Annie's products, they are great! They are all organic, usually taste really good {the bunny grahams are my favorite; shhh, I eat them too!} and they're usually better for you than the leading sugar laden fruit snacks or crackers which have a bunch of preservatives and other things that you can't pronounce the name of. At a regular grocery store, you'd probably find these over in the Natural Foods or Health Foods section but at Target they mix them in with the regular items {the bunny grahams can be found in the same aisle as other crackers like Ritz Bits and Goldfish}. I like that they are already bunny shaped which made them a perfect fit for the little guy's Easter basket!
And in case you were wondering, the Easter Bunny DOES usually bring candy to our place come Easter morning for the 'big kids' of the house to enjoy so I'm sure he won't stray far from tradition this year either {and Peyton will most likely have a treat or two from that stash so he won't be completely devoid of treats!}.
Eventually, I know Peyton will expect to get candy like his friends {and ummm, Mom and Dad ;-) } so we'll have to tell the Easter Bunny when the time comes to up the ante!
I wonder if the Easter Bunny will eat the ears off of the chocolate bunnies in the kids' basket when that time comes. Hmmm... :-)
What is the Easter Bunny bringing for your little darlings this year?
5 comments:
We love the Annie's brand. We even get their shells and cheese. We always get candy and chocolate for the holidays, but it ends up being hidden away for months and finally thrown away. Right now we have a basket full of Valentine candy that will be trashed shortly. If we leave the candy out, the boys will eat it all day. It makes me crazy. I'm filling their eggs with cheap little toys and stickers from the dollar store this year. Ayden had a Primary Easter party last Saturday and FLIPPED OUT over a tiny yo-yo he found in one of his eggs. I thought he found the golden egg, the way he came running and screaming. Of course the thing is useless and already lives in the landfills, but that's the same fate the candy has! As far as the basket goes, I'll probably get art supplies and coloring books. Bunny themed of course!
The boys got new baskets this year...actually they are light blue metal buckets from Hobby Lobby that I wrote their names on. Brennan is getting Legos, a small Star Wars sticker book, and a blue chocolate Easter bunny (it was only a dollar and probably won't be eaten).
Jackson is getting a Mickey Mouse sticker book, a yellow bunny, and Star Wars underwear.
Ethan just gets a new teething toy thing.
I usually give them a pair of p.j.'s, but haven't picked any up yet.
Oh, and we put some candy in some plastic eggs we hide, but this year I am also going to put coupons in some, that say stuff like, "Good for one treat from the Dollar Tree" and "Good for one story and cuddle time with mom" and stuff.
i don't blame you. i am not super excited to fill Emilys basket with sugar either. So far she is getting a board book about christ, some play high heels, learning flash cards, and a bracelet. i really like the idea of fruit leathers/ bunnies.
Where does the poor child get his vitamins?
Dawson has been throwing a fit lately because I won't buy him the giant chocolate bunny at the store - you know, the two-foot tall one. I'll get the kids the little dollar one and let them eat it, but he wants the big one. Candy never goes bad at our house - no matter where I hide it the kids can smell it out and eat it all before I realize what's going on. Especially since we still use candy as an occasional motivator for Dawson to use the potty, it's hard to get rid of it all. Maybe after Easter we can go on a candy strike...
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