Arwen's First Perry Easter Egg Hunt

Ok, all.  Here's some advice.  DO NOT try to compete with my in-law's Easter egg hunt.  You will be sorry.  Remember, this is just a family event--not like a church-wide hunt or anything.  Just the grandkids. We hid 250 eggs.  Yes, 250.  5 grandkids X 50 eggs each = 250 eggs filled with candy.  Let me tell you, hiding the eggs is a chore, and we were thankful for good weather this year so that we didn't have to hide them in the house again, but I'm confident that the real chore is stuffing 250 eggs. And my in-laws are painstakingly careful about making sure that all of the kids get equal amounts of candy, so I imagine this takes them hours to do. In addition to stuffing the eggs, they have also marked the eggs with each child's initial so that there are no mix ups or hurt feelings.  My grandchildren, if I am blessed enough to have any MANY, MANY years from now, will probably not be this lucky!! Ok, some more advice--when hiding 250 eggs, make sure that you note WHERE you hide the 250 eggs.  This may require a detailed map and some tedious marking as you hide, but if you do not follow this advice (we never do), some lucky person (in our case, PawPaw) will be finding plastic eggs full of melted chocolate in the yard for weeks to come! 

So, to properly conduct a Perry-style Easter egg hunt, first, the kids must hide in the house, preferably upstairs in the playroom where they cannot sneak peaks out of the windows.  Second, the parents must hide the eggs in locations of varying difficulty around the yard.  If you are like my husband, you may take this approach: make an effort in hiding the first eggs (say, 10, 20, 25, depends on his mood) and then simply toss the remaining eggs randomly around the yard.  Don't toss them too hard, though, or they will pop open and spill their precious, chocolate contents! If you are like me, you will probably make an effort hiding all of the eggs and be the last one finished hiding because let's face it, it's hard to find 250 perfect places to hide Easter eggs!

At this point, you are ready to call the kids. Have them line up... 

and then go with the traditional "Ready, Set, Go!" (Or, if you are a Perry male, throw in a "Ready, Set, Stop!"or two to really get them wound up!)

With this number of eggs, expect to have your child stopping to count multiple times to see how many eggs he or she has left to collect.  Also expect to have to help your child find the ones that you hid too well.  Do not be upset or aggravated about this: remember, this problem is, technically, your fault.  Being too good at hiding Easter eggs is not really a positive. Oh, and this is important, while the children are finding the eggs, and you have a short (very short) break, begin planning your excuses for why you will not hide the eggs again.  It is good to work with the other parents on this one: you know, safety in numbers, a united front, and all that.  If you have a baby in the family too young to hunt, this can work in your favor: have the kids hide the baby's eggs.  You will have to go find them, but you will get a break in between, and this can be a trade off for your refusal to hide the eggs again (it worked for us--next year, we won't be so lucky, though!) 

You may also want to set aside some time after you child goes to bed to scope out his or her candy-hiding spot so that you can sneak some treats. After all, it is not healthy for kids to have so much sugar, so you are really just being a good parent when you do this.  Just try not to overdo it, or your child WILL catch you and may employ a candy alarm in the future (ala Grant Perry).

If you fail to follow my advice and try to recreate this Easter egg hunt with your family, please note that 50 stuffed eggs will not be sufficient. You will also need to supply each child with an Easter basket full of treats, including their favorite candy.  This year, Granna used mini utility totes from Thirty-One, which was brilliant.  The boys were camouflage, and Arwen's was floral.  These totes were the perfect size and now can be used as a great storage container for toys in the kids rooms, in the living room or den, or even in the car.  

After all is said and done, if you are the lucky grandparents hosting this event, send the kids home full of candy and excitement, sit back on your couch and relax or lie down for a nap--I personally would go for a nap, but it's really a matter of preference--and giggle to yourself about how much trouble your children will be having calming the grandkids down for the night and pat yourself on the back for another spoiling job well done!