Don't put the kibosh on the Easter egg hunt

Ok, serious mom vent.

So D2 has her Easter party and egg hunt today at preschool. It's fine, I have no problem with it. The kids love it, the Easter Bunny was there, all good fun.

Parents were asked to bring in a dozen plastic eggs filled with treats. No chocolate (as it might melt), no nuts, no peanut butter. I'm ok with that too. I put fruit snacks in D2's. Yep, I'm that mom. But I figured it was a pretty safe option and D2 asked for them. I told her we could put Skittles in them, and I also thought about Smarties or something like that......something appropriate for this age group. She wanted fruit snacks. So we got fruit snacks.

At the preschool, the eggs are pretty much just strewn about the playground. There's no "hunting" involved. The children were instructed to only pick up 12 eggs each, as each parent only brought a dozen. Seriously? Try telling your four year old to stop picking up every egg she sees because she has to stop and count. I get that it needs to be fair, but it was honestly like wrangling cats.

We stand there and D2 is trying to decide which ones to put back, as she has more than 12 (I actually brought 18, but who's counting). As we're trying to narrow it down, she sees some on the ground that she "doesn't have yet." You can imagine how long it took us to get down to 12.

So we get home, and she's all excited to open up the eggs. Now keep in mind, these are preschoolers. The children who were out at this time were no older than four, and most of the ones who were four have just had their birthdays. Just keep that in mind.

I told D2 she could open one egg. As each egg was opened and I saw what was inside, I let her open another, and another. And this is where I decided the "no chocolate" rule was going to have to include some more specific instructions. Because apparently, people just don't think.

Here's the rundown:

Egg 1: Twizzlers (she didn't like them, I'm not surprised)

Egg 2: Double Bubble Bubble Gum (this is PRESCHOOL)

Egg 3: Jawbreakers (seriously?)

Egg 4: 3 Jolly Ranchers (ok, this is just getting ridiculous....)

Egg 5: Smarties (Hallelujah! She loves those.)

Egg 6: A small rubber bouncy ball. (Not in this house. Years ago I knew someone who had a 5 year old daughter who put one of those in her mouth, it got stuck in her throat, and the EMT's couldn't get it out because of its texture. She died. These kids are all younger than 5. They scare the crap out of me (the balls, not the kids). They are not allowed in my house.)

Egg 7: more bubble gum

Egg 8: Starburst (ok choice, but difficult for preschoolers sometimes)

Egg 9: stickers (damn you.......just damn you)

Egg 10: Skittles (to my chagrin D2 doesn't like them, but yea for me)

Egg 11: Laffy Taffy (really, it's like eating wax)

Egg 12: A tiny little booklet on how "Jesus Loves You" - I kid you not. Who stuffed those eggs? Probably the same person who gives out pencils at Halloween.

So yes, I am bothered by this. At least I took the time to think of something preschoolers could or would actually eat. I'm starting to wonder if D2 just somehow found the duds in the egg hunt, but come on. I know very few preschoolers who can actually chew bubblegum, much less have patience enough to eat a Jawbreaker.

What about Sweet Tarts? We could have done M&M's, even if it was warm they would have been fine. Skittles were fine (yes, D2 doesn't like them.....more for me, don't judge). Smarties, jelly beans, gummy bears, Dots, Lifesavers, Runts, Sour Patch Kids, caramels, candy coated eggs, lollipops, ring pops, even individually wrapped Peeps would have been great. Got any more to add?

I'm actually feeling a little better about the Fruit-Snack-Eggs now, thank you very much.

I never thought I would describe myself as Liberal......

I believe that women have the right to make their own choices regarding their bodies, health, and welfare. It's between a woman, her doctor, and her spouse or significant other, period.

I believe that everyone, regardless of race or gender, has the right to live their own lives and be happy. If two consenting adults want to marry, absolutely no one has the right to deny that. Just because you might not agree with it doesn't make it wrong.

I believe that everyone is valuable. I don't care what your occupation is, what your ethnicity is, what religion you follow, or where you live.

I believe that diplomacy trumps force. We absolutely should be trying to talk out differences of opinion before ever considering military action.

I believe in the Affordable Care Act. I have said many, many times that it's not perfect. But it's a good start. And with over 7 million people having signed up, it is absolutely working.

I believe in equal pay for equal work.

I unequivocally believe in the separation of church and state. Our judges and lawmakers put their hand on a bible and swear to uphold the Constitution, not the other way around.

I believe we should be doing everything we can to help those less fortunate, not persecuting them.

I believe that your religion should be between you, your family, your clergyman, and your God. If you feel the need to use your religion to hurt others you're using it wrong.

I believe that education in this country should be our NUMBER ONE priority.

I believe in practicing random acts of kindness.

I believe in common sense gun laws. Should you be able to "open carry" in a bar, a school, or a shopping mall? Absolutely not! Do I think anyone needs to own an AK47? Again, absolutely not. This idea that the second amendment gives you the freedom to own an arsenal is absurd.

I believe in working hard in order to improve your life. I do think there are those that need assistance at times, and most of them are hard working people who want to better their lives. I also know that there are many people who take advantage of the system and stay on welfare, having more kids, without any thought to working their way out of their situation. I don't know what the solution is, but I certainly don't think that cutting welfare benefits and ending unemployment benefits is it.

I believe that all drugs should be decriminalized and addictions should be treated as diseases. Before you get your knickers in a twist, look up the data on that and see what happens when other countries do it.

I believe that there is a large "good-ole boy" network working furiously to prevent any and all changes from happening in this country. These old white men are out of touch with reality and with the voters.

I believe that lobbying should be completely outlawed. There should be no lobbyists in Washington at all. Legislation should be made based on the will of the people, not based on money from corporations.

I believe that every single Congressman should have to hold a "town meeting" of sorts in their districts once a month. Anyone who has a question or comment should be heard.

I absolutely believe in supporting our military. Whether it's our troops overseas or those who have come home, we owe our respect and gratitude to each and every one of them. The idea that any military veteran goes without food, medical necessities, or much less a home is appalling.

I believe in working to make sure my two daughters have the freedom and the opportunity to be whomever they want to be. This includes making sure they have access to appropriate health care, they have the opportunity to attend college, and that their worth is NOT defined by their gender.

I believe that we have a responsibility to ourselves and the generations that come after us to take care of our planet. At what point do we decide to use common sense? Solar power and wind power come from infinite resources, not so much with fossil fuels. The first thing I would do if I were president would be to install solar panels on the White House.

I believe that the office of the President of the United States deserves respect. You might not agree with his policies, you might not even like him (which is funny, because I'll bet you've never met him in person). But this constant barrage of disparaging remarks, disrespectful memes, flat out lies, and smears upon his character is just embarrassing. The rest of the world is watching, people.

I believe that the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" applies to EVERYONE, not just a select few.

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If all of this makes me a liberal, so be it. I can live with that.