EGGscuze me?!

Easter went off with out a hitch yesterday, I hope yours (if you celebrate) was wonderful as well. We had kind of a unique mix at the Greek bash in the afternoon/evening with 3 sets of twins present, including the little girls born 6 weeks after ours. Not many parties can claim that kind of a guest list. But I'm still reeling about what took place on Saturday, so let me vent. We took the girls to an egg hunt sponsored by the city my mom lives in. They do this every year I guess and we're finally old enough to grasp the concept of picking up the egg and putting it in the basket so we thought this would be a good warm up for Sunday's main event. We show up and it's just a mad house of parents and kids, and from the moment we stepped out of the car you could tell that there was something a miss. These parents were way over eager. Way, way, waaaayyyy over eager. We're 15 minutes away from the start of the hunt and their sprinting from the parking lot, dragging their little ones behind them, who've they dressed to the nines in classic Easter dresses and miniature khaki pants. We defied the system (as we tend to do) and casually strolled toward the festivities in our shorts and tank tops, checking out the ducks and picking dandelions in our path. The hunt was broken down by age group so there was a section just for 2 and under - which is a great idea to make sure the little ones aren't trampled and there's plenty for everyone. ... in theory. Waiting for the gate to open was reminiscent of driving cattle into a coral. A teaming mass of undulating parents desperate to prove something by means of a final egg count. The park staff had to keep telling people to move back and not press forward. ... that shouldn't have to happen at a 2 year old egg hunt. Gina and I stayed in the back; no way I was getting in the mix of that. My sister set up at the far end of the field with her camera and we locked eyes for a moment, each of us mouthing to the other "what the F#@!" The staff gave the go ahead and the swarm of locust descended on the plastic eggs like fire in mattress factory. We brought up the rear and it was amazing to note that the once colorful field of eggs was completely green by the time we got there. ... nothing but grass left. These parents were down on all fours shoveling eggs into baskets while their kids stood there looking on. We sat dumbstruck as they walked by us on their way out, baskets overflowing with eggs; some parents even holding the overflow in their outstretched shirts. We ended up with half a plastic egg shell and two pieces of candy that someone dropped. I was livid. I started in with my "what are you teaching your children here" speech that I could see actually got through to a few parents. One lady actually made her daughter hand over a couple eggs to the girls (daughter could care less, mother seemed more pained to see the eggs go). Seriously though. ... this is supposed to be for the kids. They're supposed to have fun picking up eggs and putting them in baskets; instead they sat there and watched their parents go crazy like it was a sample sale at Nordstrum's. That is not what they had in mind. My favorite moment, however, was at one point we noticed a really tall kid - probably between 8 and 10 - in the mix grabbing up eggs as well. ... in the 2 and under section. My aunt looks right at him and asks "so when are you turning 2?" To which he turned and continued picking up eggs. Oh well. What can you do. I reminded myself that these people probably weren't doing much for Easter, and maybe this was their one chance to give their kids the thrill of the hunt. We, on the other hand, are spoiled enough to get two Easters and there were plenty of opportunities to pick up candy laden eggs. They needed that moment more than we did. So take it. At least we got a good story to tell.