Public Easter Egg Hunts

sapphire angel

For your LO's sake, I hope yours goes much better than ours. Needless to say we won't be repeating this experience.

The ad said age divisions would be applied so I thought "great! LO won't get trampled by the bigger kids." Man was I wrong. The age division was 4 and under and all the assorted parents with them. LO was deliberately tripped by the MOTHER next to us (I watched it happen) and then she was deliberately stepped on by the 3-4 year old (and before someone says that maybe this was an accident my LO and the 3-4 year old started out on opposite sides of that mother so she had to have crossed sides and then step on LO and considering that LO and I never left the fence line she had to turn back towards us to step on LO after crossing in front of her mother).

Another mother of two kindly dropped ten eggs around us once LO had started to calm down, which I thought was more than generous of her. But thanks to all the greedy 3-4 year olds running around we only got one of those ten eggs. $20 to get in and LO gets trampled by a mother and child and we only get one egg. We spent the rest of the time at the medical tent getting checked out. LO will be fine and they said if the bruise looks very severe or she has trouble walking to have ourselves checked out with the pediatrician or Urgent Care office but it was mostly dirt and a shoe print,  and some slight bruising already. 

On a happy note LO loved the goats at the petting zoo and just kept hugging and hugging them, pretending to walk them (they were actually walking her) and feeding them. I didn't ask for my money back because the profits were going to a "daycare" that accepts traumatized children only (abused, neglected, PTSD cases, etc...and they call themselves an "institute") so the money went for a very good cause in helping those children get back to normal or close to normal lives. 

Like I said at the beginning, we won't be repeating the experience...

SeaStar430

That really stinks that that mother did that, it's hard to imagine another mother deliberately stepping on a baby. Sounds like they just had the age group wrong. Ours was 2 and under for the little ones and it was awesome, the babies had so much fun picking up the eggs. Allie got 2 big bags and There were still eggs everywhere when we left and we were some of the last to leave. I would maybe complain to the group that put it on that 4 and under is too broad a range.

katekirschner

SeaStar430:

That really stinks that that mother did that, it's hard to imagine another mother deliberately stepping on a baby. Sounds like they just had the age group wrong. Ours was 2 and under for the little ones and it was awesome, the babies had so much fun picking up the eggs. Allie got 2 big bags and There were still eggs everywhere when we left and we were some of the last to leave. I would maybe complain to the group that put it on that 4 and under is too broad a range.

Yeah, I would have to agree with talking to the organizers saying something along the lines of the age range being drastically different from a 14 month old to a 4 year old. 2 and under seems more appropriate.

txbabs111

SeaStar430:

That really stinks that that mother did that, it's hard to imagine another mother deliberately stepping on a baby. Sounds like they just had the age group wrong. Ours was 2 and under for the little ones and it was awesome, the babies had so much fun picking up the eggs. Allie got 2 big bags and There were still eggs everywhere when we left and we were some of the last to leave. I would maybe complain to the group that put it on that 4 and under is too broad a range.

Ditto. Ours was 0-2 as well and I was really impressed with how well it was organized. All of the parents and kids pretty much kept in their area and DD was able to get as many eggs as she wanted and then she just walked out of the area when she was through (and there were still plenty of eggs left). I'm sorry that your experience was negative. 

sapphire angel

I asked for the number on the way out since the gate ticket people were from the hosting center and I will be calling tomorrow. From what I gathered listening to the talk I heard, this was the first attempt at an Easter Egg Hunt by this group. Maybe next year's will be better...

An under two age division was what I expected from the ad. Even if LO hadn't been accosted at the start line, I would of had to pick her up and run her way out in front of the older kids for her to have gotten her own egg. The other toddler parents quickly figured out to work as a team. One parent held on to the toddler while one grabbed some eggs and brought them to the grass right around the toddler, and then fended off the older kids...

erikaja6

I am so sorry for your horrible experience.  My son went to an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood this weekend.  My son was in the 18 months to 2 1/2 years old group.  At the beginning of each race, the organizers announced the maximum number of eggs each child could select.  This number was based on the (approximate) number of participants in each age division.  This helped a lot.  It was really well organized and we had a great time.   

SusieQ1982

Here I guess things are different. There aren't any age divisions but they're just empty plastic eggs. The fun is in the finding. When your basket is full, you turn it in and they give you a chocolate bunny (one per kid). Then they throw all the eggs back out for other kids to find.

My son liked playing with the eggs last year even though he was only 6 months old. This year I am sure he will love it. But it's not till Saturday.

mojito14

We did not go to our first public Easter Egg hunt till Preston was 3. I didn't really see a need to though. Harrison will go to one this year, but only because Preston is going and I'll be holding him the whole time anyway.

I'm sorry you didn't have as good a time as you had hoped. Don't count them out entirely. When the kids get a little older, they have so much fun. :-)

Temp36641187503164

We have plans to go to one on Tuesday and it's 0-3...I'm nervous now!

Bianca42

Poor peanut.  I can't believe that she got stepped on.  Thank goodness she's going to be okay. 

We went to one last year.  The youngest group was 0-5 and it was in this tiny area against a building.  I had the stroller with the baby and my 5 year old went into the fray.  Between all the kids and parents with the young ones, I lost sight of my DS and totally panicked.  I couldn't get the baby out of the stroller without totally looking away so I just stood on the edge and freaked out.  He finally made his way all the way back to me with one egg.  We went to the car and ended up being blocked in.  I had to wait at my car for half an hour.  It totally sucked.

sapphire angel

mojito14:

We did not go to our first public Easter Egg hunt till Preston was 3. I didn't really see a need to though. Harrison will go to one this year, but only because Preston is going and I'll be holding him the whole time anyway.

I'm sorry you didn't have as good a time as you had hoped. Don't count them out entirely. When the kids get a little older, they have so much fun. :-)

I only decided on a public egg hunt because the small amount of grass in our courtyard is covered in dog poo from inconsiderate dog owners (there are bags kept stocked at both ends of the courtyard and trash cans also...) and since LO picks EVERYTHING up out of the grass I hold her when ever we are in the courtyard. 

Tonya_G

We went to one yesterday at the IL's community center for their area. It was... not as painful as last year. DD didn't get tromped on, amazingly. They had the age division as 0-2, 3-5 and 6-10 though, which I think is far more appropriate- toddlers and babies are much more equal matches for each other than preschoolers! I, personally, could never go to a public easter egg hunt and be perfectly happy myself. But MIL really wanted them to go... so we did. Bah.