2babycakes: Mom, can I have a treat?

Another Easter has come and gone. This one proved to be a absolutely beautiful one! It was good to see my dad's family without having someone in the hospital.

The girls woke up to Easter Bunny treats. I have such a problem with all the never-ending sugar-filled, Ritalin-causing crap we shove at our kids. Don't worry, I won't go on a tirade about "all natural" or anything. I don't think we have to go that far. But do we have to have all these holidays, events and parties that we have to fill the kids up with four pounds of sugar? When I finally weed out all the candy from one event, another one comes along and we have to start all over. Then it's, "Mom, can I have just one treat?" every hour until it's gone!

I've never gotten the girls a ton of candy for this kind of thing, but it seems they end up with it anyway. With 4 sets of grandparents, a very giving church, friends at school and a bunny, a saint, or a fairy having to show up at our house from time to time, they always end up with more than they ever need. Plus, if I don't allow it at all, I'M the bad guy!

I always try to limit the candy that we buy for them and try to get other fun things that will last longer like games, toys or craft supplies. My biggest ally for this has been the Dollar Spot at Target. They're just little trinkets, cheapy things that probably wont last. But, you know, it's usually still cheaper than going the candy route and the girls are just as happy, if not more so.

We usually just put one basket out the night before for the Easter Bunny because he knows we have to leave for church early and never have time to go on an egg hunt. This year, we forgot to put the basket out and the girls were already in bed. I didn't want to go hunting for it and risk waking them up. So I improvised...