Egg Hunts and Easter Baskets

A few days ago I posted this picture to Instagram:

It was captioned, "Training to win." I had decided Penny needed the training when I picked her up from preschool after they had an easter egg hunt. Her teacher told me that at the end of the hunt Penny didn't have a single egg. The intention was for each kid to fill an egg carton so the other kids gave up some eggs so Penny wouldn't go without.

Since Penny didn't seem to have a grasp on Easter egg hunts, we practiced a few times in the backyard one afternoon. Penny was happy, and it made for an enjoyable afternoon and a cute Instagram picture.

Fastforward to the day of the big hunt. It was Saturday morning and my sleepy little family was running late. The girls were finally dressed and eating breakfast when I realized the shorts they were wearing were inadequate for the cool weather that arrived during the night. After redressing everyone and herding them out the door we were running a bit late. The hunt was would begin at 10 am sharp and we needed to be there a little before to hid our contributed eggs.

The whole car ride I became more and more stressed about an event that was supposed to be fun. I nearly bit off all my nails when we got stuck waiting for a long slow train to pass. We pulled up just as the kids were lining up. I sent Andrew running ahead with the eggs with I tried to get the girls out of the car as quickly as possible. Unable to stop myself, I keep urging Penny to, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" and she drew from my stress and began to cry. I paused to help her calm down, and she took her place with the other kids.

The nursery kids went first and at their mark I urgently yelled, "GO!!" The pressure was too much, and Penny dissolved into tears once again. I immediately regretted the stress I was putting on her and tried to help her relax. With Andrew's help, she calmed down enough to participate.

Poor Penny. I was so worried and stressed about getting to the hunt in time that I almost ruined it for her by passing on my stress. I am happy to report, however, that the Easter basket portion of the holiday was 100% stress free!

My little Penny, I am sorry. It was unfair for me to dump all of my anxiety onto you. Mommas are not perfect and sometimes we make mistakes. Next year, let's keep the fun and ditch the stress!