Somewhere along the line, the Tooth Fairy was no longer coming to our house. Honestly, I think it started when I would forget to come get their tooth, or they’d hide it so well under their pillows and blankets that I couldn’t find the darn thing, or we’d just straight up forget to put it under the pillow altogether. Whoops. My boys never really got upset — they just said, “Oh, well, maybe she’ll come tonight,” and moved on with life. After the last two teeth that we forgot to place under the pillow, my boys said, “It’s okay, Mom, we know it’s not real anyway.”
I’m not going to lie — I breathed a sigh of relief because having to get up and get that dang tooth from under their pillow without waking them up would stress me out. It’s a lot easier when they are younger, but if you go rummaging around a 9-year-old or 11-year-old’s bed looking for a tooth, chances are they are going to notice!
For whatever reason, the Tooth Fairy was never a big deal to me — but don’t go ruining Christmas for my kids. Let them believe in Santa for as long as they want. But the Tooth Fairy? Eh, she’s OKAY, I guess.
READ: Dear Parents, Stop Ruining Santa
Then I started to think since Easter is approaching, “When does the Easter Bunny stop coming to our house?”
When they are little, it’s so cute to see them wake up and see all their little candies and silly cheap toys and get excited over egg hunts — but now, since they are older, do they even really care? And what do you put in a 12-year-old and 10-year-old’s Easter basket? Certainly not 20-dollar bills, as some of their friends have mentioned that they get from the Tooth Fairy! Or is that what we are doing now? That is one trend I won’t be hopping on.
When I think of Easter baskets for older kids, I think of new swimsuits and swim shorts, goggles for swimming, summertime, and beach stuff to get ready for when it warms up. Throw in their favorite candies, dye a few eggs, and laugh and be silly — and then you are done! But are we still pretending there is a bunny that comes to our house and leaves this stuff?
READ: Easter Fun, Egg Hunts, and Brunch In & Around Jax
I’m afraid to ask my boys because I don’t want to ruin it, but chances are they will respond the same way they did with the Tooth Fairy. Then I think, “Oh no, I don’t want them to give up on Santa, Santa is the BEST.”
Santa, Elves on Shelves, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Leprechaun traps and glitter and all of the things… sometimes it’s just too much, and then sometimes I’m totally on board with it. It depends on my mood, I suppose.
So, I guess for now, I will keep rolling with the Easter Bunny until my kids come out and tell me they don’t believe in it anymore. Which will be sad because I know Santa will be next… but on the other hand, it might be a bit less stressful when I can just ask them what they would like for these holidays. That though, will be the end of the magic, and I ask myself, am I really ready for that?!
At the end of the day, I just want them to enjoy the holiday moment regardless of whether they believe in the Easter Bunny or not. It’s fun to dye eggs and eat chocolate bunnies, Cadbury eggs, and jelly beans. One year I burned the ham for Easter dinner, but we still ate it, and it’s now a fun memory for all of us. How does one burn a ham? I don’t know, but I did it.
I’d love to hear some of your Easter basket ideas and gifts that you give your older kids. Please share so I can evolve with these tweens of mine and keep the Easter Bunny tradition going… even if it looks and feels a little different!
The Easter bunny usually brings bathing suits and beach items. Stuff to play with outdoors. Since our son has hit the teenage years, things have changed a little as well. One year the bunny made a scavenger hunt with the eggs. Each egg had a clue with a surprise in the last egg. That was fun. He is really into fishing so I assume this year the bunny may be filling a basket & eggs with fishing gear.