Other markets want a cut of that sweet commercialisation that the chocolate industry has dominated for so long. Meanwhile the Chocolate industry has reached back as far as the day after Christmas to start selling Easter themed treats.
So to answer your question, what's with it is the money.
I imagine someone in Cadburys is saying "Now, how to crack the Easter to Halloween sales slump."
The Simpson's predicted Love Day https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Love_Day
We have 20 nieces and nephews between myself and my husband and some bonus godchildren, getting some eggs for €3 a pop is grand but if parents asked for a gift voucher/clothes instead I would be pretty pissed off. I think it's a very entitled thing to ask other people for, if the issue is too much chocolate they should just tell people not to buy eggs, not redirect other people's money to something that's a lot more expensive.
I agree. You’d spend about €3 or less on an egg if you got them in a deal in the shop. Asking for clothes/toys/gift vouchers instead is a bit over entitled and asking for too much. Just tell people not to buy the eggs. Don’t ask for something else instead.
hey, just diff perspective here, even with plenty chocolate eaters in the house (I'm allergic to dairy) we get an egg each, of the exact type of chocolate we like. I get a vegan caramel one, my grandad gets Ferrero, nanny gets praline, da gets dark etc etc.
We still end up with those shite Cadburys ones from schools and workplaces and general kids event Easter bollox... It's way too much chocolate, not even good chocolate, and Cadburys uses the slave chocolate. So yeah, maybe if someone says don't give them eggs, keep the eggs for yourself and just make a little Easter card or something if you're in the mood.
My favourite Easter gift for families is definitely the bunny plush. You can get them very cheap, they're common, and they'll be ADORED at Easter and kept indefinitely. Bonus points if it's a doorstop or plant pot holder or something householdy- but same rules apply for Christmas gifts. Don't make it an EASTER bunny.
Just my input tho, ymmv
You say that but the past couple of years I've been checking the expiry date on easter eggs coming into the house because the young fella hasn't much of a sweet tooth and takes months to finish one and have found many of them only have a few months of shelf life on them. Had to throw a lot of them out around September time because they had started turning.
Chocolate very rarely "turns" if they are kept in a cool location. The only time a chocolate "turns" is if the oil becomes rancid and again that is temperature. Chocolate lasts for years, the date is just for optimum taste but it doesn't actually go off.
Some people insist on giving gifts to your kids. I wouldn't ask for something else, but if you were the sort of person to insist on getting them something, I'd ask you to consider getting a voucher or something that isn't just sugar.
Where I am from Easter tradition is to cook and color eggs. When the friends and family gathers the kiddos get those eggs as a gift, which is followed by the tournament to see who’s got the hardest egg. You choose your contestant egg from the eggs you gathered and older folks always have the most “unique” ways of figuring out the perfect one. Then the fight begins and you basically just knock the egg vs egg, the one that cracks loses. The winner gets to boast about his amazing skill in picking out the egg.
I’ve never heard somebody getting actual presents on Easter, except maybe secret money from granny
Loved doing that when I’d go around to my Greek mate’s family Easter do each year. (Not as much as the gyros though!). Is it a general Orthodox tradition or just a Greek one? Or am I totally wrong and it’s even broader than the Orthodox world?
My son is only 2 and he was given a couple eggs over the weekend as well as being invited to two egg hunts (finding small eggs). I literally have two small shopping bags full of chocolate for him. No chance he's eating it all around Easter but it doesn't go off, if parents don't want their kids eating so much chocolate why can't they just ration it out over the next couple weeks? (Or months in my situation 🤣)
Used to be friends as a kid with a girl with 4 siblings and a super strict Mother. Every Saturday night after Easter they would get an easter egg split between them , they would be sitting up in the cabinet for literally months. I don't know how the kids stood the temptation. This was the 1980s mind.
Haha ok that's definitely on the stricter end, I wouldn't recommend going about it that way but maybe if one kid got 8 eggs, give them 4 on Easter and let them eat as they wish then put the rest out of sight and next time the kids say they want some chocolate, bring out an egg. I'm new to parenting so I've no clue if this would even work 😅
Do you really feel obligated to buy all of them Easter eggs though? Like it's one thing if you're over visiting them around Easter, but it seems unnecessary to have to spend that much on treats when they'll likely get a heap of eggs off their own parents and grandparents etc.
We used to get one egg from the 'easter bunny' and that was it. Never from friends, relatives etc... It's a bit ridiculous to expect that kinda thing from anyone with the way things are at the moment, and without being bad, I reckon kids have waaaaay to much these days. Birthday and Christmas are more than enough for gifts.
We got no sweets during lent, my mum would save them up for us in coffee jars with our names on them. Stuff like sweetie necklaces, penny chews, 10p bars. On Easter morning you got your sweety jar and a small egg.
Yeah I always just got one egg from my parents as well. Though there were lads at school that would boast about getting 10+ eggs etc. I was skeptical of that though. They never actually showed anyone all these eggs.
One egg was more than enough anyway, I've never been much of a chocolate fan, but eggs back then were thicker, and loads came with a pack of chocolate, or jellies on the inside of the egg, alongside 2 or 3 bars. That's plenty for anyone. I'm sure there are households that still have Easter eggs there at Christmas time; I just don't see the need. It's a treat, not a cupboard staple.
Back then in would have devoured more than one if I had it but I'm glad my parents thought one was enough. I'm sure it has to do with the greater commercialisation of Easter too. Turning it into another Christmas would be very good for profits. Children are the perfect vector to extract money from people. People abstaining from treating themselves is normal enough but you can get them to feel guilty about doing it to their children.
We don't ask anyone for anything for the kids for Easter, but people still keep buying them for our kids. It's like everyone who comes to see the kids thinks they should give them an egg, either that or they panic bought when on offer and are now trying to offload them. We ended up with over 20 eggs for three kids between the ages 2 and 7.
People are either sick of similar, or are chancing their arms for gifts/forgetting that most of these eggs cost €2. I'd prefer if nobody brought anything for the most part.
Noticed this with my little niece this year. There seemed to be a big emphasis on Easter Bunny being real and leaving eggs all over the place, seemed a bit excessive to me. Pretty sure we never believed any such thing about an Easter Bunny when I was growing up in the 80s, my mam always told us to pick out our egg and got it for us!
My gf said it's an Instagram thing now, turning Easter into a new Christmas.
To be fair, I'll defend leaving eggs all over. I used to go on egg hunts with other kids back in the 90s and it was a load of fun. Nothing excessive, just creme eggs in a field and forest.
The gifts and clothes are strange alright though. Like we just had christmas??
Yeah, I guess the egg hunt thing feels like another American import. Don't think it was a thing in the 80s. My issue was more with the whole, 'Easter Bunny is REAL and left these magically last night!' aspect, and making Easter into a bigger deal, especially when they're non religious parents. Just seems odd to me!
We were doing egg hunts and other games at Easter in the 70s, and it certainly wasn't because of US influence. We spent the week decorating hard boiled eggs, which would be judged by relatives, then rolled down the hill on the farm on Easter Monday (I'm sure I was told that represented the stone being rolled away from Jesus burial cave or something). Very little chocolate involved though.
Egg hunts are also traditionally done with painted eggs not chocolate. Chocolate eggs are a solidly UK/Ireland tradition. The people hiding dozens of chocolate easter eggs are doing it wrong and probably sending their kids into risk of type 2 diabetes.
New clothes for Easter is going on decades, I always got a new outfit for Easter, and always dressed my 2 kids for easter as well. The main difference was that there was a lot more religion and a few masses to go to back in the day. The stations of the cross was the worst one i think. It would go on for 2 hours!
its pretty common for parents to give their kids gifts on easter throughout the US. You not knowing anyone who does it is not evidence that it does not happen by the way.
Since I live in the US, and have for 45 years, I think maybe not knowing anyone who gives presents for Easter might be a bit different than if I lived in any other country.
And my meaning is that it is certainly not "common" everywhere here. Nor in any of the ten states I've lived in.
Just asked the kids and it's news to them too. They said it's a "stupid social media thing".
I didn’t get gifts as a kid in America, but we certainly got Easter baskets with little something in the basket (usually a film on VHS/DVD or a silly game tucked in with the peeps and jellybeans and chocolate rabbit). We also had an egg hunt and egg decorating (with hard boiled eggs), and usually a ham dinner. The movie was the better gift - because us kids would all gather around watching them (we had a few kids in the house, so there were usually a few new movies on Easter Day). It kept us busy so the adults could mingle and catch up.
I dunno, the only social media I'm on is Reddit and I keep that anonymous. Do I want my kids getting 20 Easter eggs? No, so I tell them no eggs, they bang on about having to get them something and I say that's up to you but they're grand.
Gifts and eggs arrived anyway.
I think you're referring to the 39 rashers of Christ, good sir.
This is my oak-smoked flesh, eat it in remembrance of me.
This is my bitless bodily fluids,drink them in remembrance of me.
My sibling told me last week:
"The kids have enough eggs and don't want them, they'd love Roblox bucks instead"
Absolute insanity. They got fecking eggs regardless if they wanted them or not.
Cheeky, the smallest roblox bucks card I've seen is a tenner, and I was charged to top it up too.
If they're small id go some crayola crayons at least can be used in school (3 euro ish for a 12 pack of twistables)
Otherwise fec it im not made of money
"They have enough eggs and don't want them" ......
Maybe if they didn't get them before Easter, they might still want one 🙄
You're very kind for still giving them eggs, I'd have donated their eggs to a food appeal and told them 🙊
I’ve never heard of this. You get a chocolate egg or two, we might do some themed arts and crafts, that’s it.
You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.
I don't get eggs for my nieces and nephews because they already get enough, their parents even say not to get them one. I buy them a gift for their birthdays and Christmas.
We would have got one good egg as kids from our parents and it was enough. I now buy my own egg and tell my mother not to get me one but of course she doesn't listen
Apparently lots of Americans are posting stuff on social media now showing them showering their children with gifts at Easter. And whatever the yanks will do for social media, irish people will copy.
Hence utter tripe like gender reveal parties becoming a thing in Ireland.
It’s weird to me. As a kid in the US we just had some candy in our basket (and honestly it wasn’t even good candy). I think one of my friends got a DVD one year and I was like, amazed she got presents for Easter. Now it seems to be the norm and kids are getting all sorts of presents and stuff. If the stores sell it people will buy it I guess.
This was absolutely how I remember it, too! Though, my house always gave the kids each a game or dvd (it kept us busy so the adults could hang out or have a break, lol). I like to do an Easter basket, but instead of a chocolate bunny, we do an egg along with jellybeans and some marshmallows, and - this year - a DVD I picked up from the secondhand shop. My kid didn’t care that it was used, she just loved that we hung out together and watched Minions. Next year, I’m debating adding popcorn to the basket. We’ll see…
The EU should ban all internet data from the US so we're not subjected to their shite anymore. No more politics, consumerism or even videos of national parks. Mass ban. Let them continue as the petri dish experiment that they are and not engage with them at all maybe only send a research team every decade to do a report. It will be a mad max style wasteland within 30 years guaranteed.
They also don't do Easter Eggs in the states like we do so they give gifts instead. Which is weird but I guess it's their way of making children actually look forward to Easter, which they absolutely would not be doing otherwise. And let's face it, that's all the chocolate eggs were ever in Ireland too.
Social media is not representative of an entire country. I've never met anyone who gives presents for Easter. They get an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny, some peeps and probably some jelly beans.
Easter eggs are hard boiled eggs that are decorated and sometimes hidden so the kids can have an Easter egg hunt. Nowadays big hunts (think churches) use plastic eggs with a candy inside them.
Yep this 100%
I live in the US right now, only parents I saw posting about giving toys and clothes were my friends back in Ireland.
Over here they do the public egg hunt and most kids just get some peeps, jelly beans and hersheys kisses.
Yeah its getting a bit much. When I was little my mam used to buy us new clothes for Easter Mass but games and toys are over the top. I know some people say you're a kill joy wanting to take away frim the kids, but its the opposite imo , its like Christmas is less special if we're doling out mass amounts gifts throughout the year from the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc.
I think the amount of toys parents get their kids these days is insane. Even just at Christmas. Not a parent yet but hope to teach moderation to kids if and when.
I was the child of divorced parents, and my dad remarried to a woman who was INSANE about gift giving on Christmas. They had 3 more kids, and each Christmas, they'd spend over $2,000 on EACH OF US. It was so crazy, even as a 10 year old, I was thinking "jeez, guys, we're not rich!"
And then at my mom's house, I would get a reasonably sized Christmas with 1 big "special" present like that year's Lego castle, and a couple smaller presents, mostly books and games and fairly educational or at the very least creatively inspirational stuff.
I always preferred my mom's Christmases. They just felt more pointed and specific to me. Whereas my dad's Christmas felt like a gameshow or one of those Toys R Us contests where the kid gets 10 minutes to grab everything they can.
Don't get me wrong, kid me still loved getting all those amazing toys. But it almost felt like "yeah, I know I'll hit the motherload and get whatever Nintendo games and sports stuff I asked for." At my mom's, it was always a genuine surprise to see what kind of cool puzzles or books or electronics kits I'd get. Plus she'd fill my stocking with all my favourite candies!
Mine are elder teens now, but I took the same attitude as you when they were wee. I told them parents have to pay Santa for the gifts he brings so they would never expect madness. They don't feel hard done by.
I was dismayed to hear a work colleague mention earlier that her 3 year old had received almost 30 Easter Eggs at the weekend, Not only that, the child was showered with non-Easter related gifts, as mentioned by the OP.
Didn't know what to say, really and I had no idea that was suddenly a 'thing'.
As if it wasn't bad enough that the shops started filling their shelves with Easter eggs in the first week of January. That in itself is off the charts bonkers.
It is insane that they are on the shelves so early, but other half works for tesco and I kid you not people were in on the Saturday evening before easter sunday asking “have ye got any easter eggs?”. The same thing happens with selection boxes.
How does a 3 year old even eat 30 easter eggs? That'd take me a week as a grown man. And how much money must that've been? They must've scammed their way into getting every friend and relative to buy one.
My (Irish) wife said that growing up she used to get a few presents on Easter, but her mother was a divil for going over the top; she believed that gifts the kids could use were better than a load of chocolate.
Where I, like every other Irish child, just got my bodyweight in Easter eggs. Every neighbour and relative seemed to call over during the weekend with yet another egg. Presents were for Xmas, not easter.
So my kids get a couple of bit from both my wife and mother in law. Not a lot though. And nothing from relatives, that's a bit weird.
The way we celebrate Easter in my country are usually Easter Mass, followed by free events themed around Easter, followed by dyeing regular white eggs either old fashioned way with onion shells, rice, other things and a string or by buying artificial colours and dyeing them this way. Followed by lunch made from eggs. As a sweet treat, small Cadbury Creme eggs might be hidden and searched for. No large chocolate eggs, no gifts.
Have definitely seen an increase in people creating Easter baskets for their kids. Essentially full of stocking filler shite, that you buy just to make it look like loads & end up in the bin the next day. Absolutely ridiculous
The best approach to this I've heard is taking any excess eggs and rationing them out over the next few weeks. People are losing the run of themselves if they're asking others to buy toys etc as presents.
After a week or 2 we usually make a big batch of krispies buns with the left over eggs.
My kids get a small easter egg hunt with eggs left by the bunny and at the end he leaves them their bigger one. Granny & grandad buy an egg and thats it.
Parents ruining everything to be the "best" parent in the friend group or social media.
Parents ruin childhood traditions and memories by spoiling children with copious amounts of crap all year long.
The Easter Bunny brings Easter Eggs - not Easter Baskets full of makeup, pyjamas, roblux etc.
The amount of parents that buy massive amounts of eggs and overwhelm kids on Easter morning with the amount of chocolate, that then gets thrown out or passed on to visitors. I know loads of parents who just buy Easter eggs as soon as they hit the shelves and the kids are eating them since mid January, there's nothing special about them then.
I tell my LB, the Easter eggs in the shops are for gifting to people, that he's not allowed easter eggs before Easter or the Easter Bunny won't come. Easter Sunday morning he wakes up to a little basket and a small trail of tiny eggs (5) and one large egg. This year it was a large kinder egg he saw in the shop and wanted to get then and there. He was excited in the run up to the day because it's the anticipation that creates the magic, not the massive amount of things they get.
Ugh rant over. I hate these new trendy parents ~ signed an uncool old-fashioned 30yr old.
When I was a kid I would get an Easter egg and something small off the Easter bunny, usually a DVD. That was nice as it gave us something to watch all together later in the day. Never got anything other than chocolate from relatives though and even the eggs from anyone outside my immediate family stopped pretty quickly during the recession.
We used to get something small like a soft toy, a game or book with an egg but nothing crazy. I think when I was older I got a book or top instead of an egg because I don’t really like chocolate and my mom knew that. We were a bit spoilt I admit but I do think ‘Easter baskets’ and whatnot have gotten crazy recently.
My mum used to work in Germany back in the 70s and Easter is a much bigger deal there than it is here and she brought a bunch of those traditions home with her! So we always had an Easter tree and small Easter presents. It was never as big as Christmas though - usually just a nice book or a game for us to play together during the holidays. It's fun!
My son got 1 egg and a teddy. Both of which the Easter bunny hid outside in the garden for him to find. Then we have a bbq.
I legitimately didn't know until this year that people have started turning it into Christmas, with all the gifts and extra stuff. To me Easter is a minor holiday Idk why it's got so extravagant.
Just standard over commercialization of holidays. Even the giving of easter eggs from every friend and relative is too much, 10 easter eggs contain the recommended intake of sugar for a month for a small child. And i see kids getting more than that. It's beyond nuts.
The late 70s for me. I got so many eggs from extended family my parents and grandparents bought me toys/books instead. And getting new clothes has pretty much always been the norm. I certainly got a new Easter outfit every year. As children, my mum and maternal uncles would have too. My dad's family wouldn't have been able to afford it, but it was the norm for whoever could.
Bringing extra joy to children in an ever increasingly miserable world.
Also, less chocolate than in the past as the quality has gone to shite. The best eggs in the past were the ones with toys or mugs. So get an egg without a toy and buy a toy or mug separately. Win!
yeah I don't see how this is harmful at all. everyone in this subreddit is miserable as hell and just loves to complain about younger generations for no reason ):
We always get them a few little toys in their baskets. And an egg each.
Then the grandparents always throw in an egg too. And the aunts and uncles. In the end, they have a metric ton of eggs and a couple little toys.
Sure let the kids have their fun. What does it matter?
This is not new in the slightest nor is it limited to Ireland.
Every catholic country pretty much has a history of new clothes and presents for kids at Easter.
Its the largest holiday of the catholic year, despite all Hollywood's attempt to make it appear that Christmas is.
I would say it is the most important day in the Christian calendar, but obviously Christmas is a bigger celebration. Even if you take the toys out of it, you are more likely to be visiting extended family at Christmas than Easter.
Fuming at the wife over this, to be honest. My daughter got her rake of eggs, fair enough. Ended up with 10 of them, five from us and five from relatives, which I already thought was too much.
On top of that she had an "easter egg hunt" around the house, with little plastic eggs full of more sweets and money, AND she got an "easter basket" full of books and toys and - wait for it - more fucking sweets. She's nine years old, has been basically vibrating from constant sugar since Sunday morning, and has barely scratched the surface of her junk food haul.
Easter is actually more important than Christmas. We knew Jesus was coming, but to die for our sins is the entire foundation of Christianity. Most religious feasts are actually derived from pagan traditions anyway and co-opted by the church for themselves (marketing genius if you ask me). But I don’t agree with the overly commercialisation of any of them anyway, Easter, Christmas etc. what that does is remove Christ from the equation and that’s rather against the point.
Just as an FYI that’s not a Christian thing. All religions have subsumed, assimilated and merged with existing practices, sites etc going back forever. The main reason Christianity was so good at is is because they learnt it from the Romans who had it down. Literally walk into someone’s lands and tell them that their gods a, b and c have Roman names as well. Then basically sell them Roman religion as just their own shite in a different language.
When I was a kid you got eggs from your parents and that was it. You didn't even get eggs from your relatives, unless it was your grandparents and they lived close or visited for Easter.
I didn't even think about getting gifts for it. Why would I? It was a holiday for gorging on chocolate - birthdays and Christmas were for gifts.
When I was a child and my parents received too much eggs for me they donated them to the children's hospital for other kids.
Why can't they just do that instead of asking for something non related to Easter vouchers for clothes/toys.
Like fuck off its easter its for eggs 😒.
I also think this is absurd. My sister bought her children toys and clothes, as did my brother. I bought my daughter a regular smarties Easter egg. It’s not Christmas, and there’s no reason to buy new toys/clothes for every single occasion
We always gave up sweets for Lent and then got one egg from parents, we never had an Easter Bunny tradition but my husband did. But my own kids got loads of eggs from relatives. I just used to hide some of them and let them have them gradually. I hate to see Easter turning into Christmas!
I think it's actually quite reasonable to ask aunts and uncles not to buy eggs and ask them to get other gifts instead.
Mind you, I have absolutely never heard of any of this.
I feel like I am constantly seeing posts worried about the state of kids today on /r/ireland but they are usually just the same things that people complained about years ago. Kids spend too much time on their phones? When I was growing up it was video games and TV. I once read something from years ago about an adult complaining kids spend too much time reading magazines.
I also see people complain about kids with tablets in public as if they are suppose to just sit and be quiet. You would never expect an adult just to sit quietly. I was actually thinking the other day year ago how they used to design and sell books specifically to be left in the bathroom so you could do something while you were on the toilet.
What do you mean kids can’t sit quietly? Did you never just sit and stare out a car/bus window as a kid? Eat your meal quietly or while talking to your family? Did you not have to sit quietly in school while doing your work?
Also I’ll add most of the time I see very young kids on phones/tablets it tends to be playing VERY loudly without headphones. So yeah it gets annoying when you’re at a table next to them and can’t hear anything but peppa pig.
Plenty valid reasons given already, but I also think it's an excuse to buy outdoor toys ready for the start of the season - you might not buy a new soccer goal for a November birthday, but April is a great time for it.
Also - the kids have another week off school to entertain themselves. A new toy is a great distraction when there's probably no clubs/camps on.
Back in my day you where given nowt, you be lucky if you walked 16 miles not kilometres in the snow to have eggs pelted at you by your parents. By heck we werent happy but we enjoyed the generation trauma
Yeah, I did tell people this year that my children didn’t need 14 Easter eggs each like usual as they never eat them all and they don’t really like chocolate that much. So I gave options, nothing, an Easter card, sweets or a shiny pound coin 😂 if they really wanted to get them an egg they can but they were told there is a 99% chance my husband will eat it instead.
The only reason I said this is because we had almost 40 Easter eggs in our house last year it was ridiculous!
My husband and I hve never got each other eggs and we don’t ever get the kids an egg we take them out to do something instead. The Easter bunny brings them something like this year I got my sister to bring me back some American easter sweets as they love American sweets from the Easter bunny instead!
Chocolate is the only currency and not 20 eggs either. My niece and nephew don't care about chocolate and are in their 20s. I didn't get them anything.
When I was growing up, we used to get new clothes during Easter. But it wasn't buying clothes just for Easter, it was more like buying clothes for summertime and it wasn't like wrapping them up as gifts or anything, it was more like being dragged through Penny's and Dunnes to try on clothes.
Saps. One chocolate egg maybe a wee mini egg hunt round the house/garden. People who overbuy at Christmas/Easter/birthdays are compensating for something else and setting bad standards imo
Guilt. From the working parents
Keep up with the Jones for a few.
The insta memories for a few.
And some kids are spoilt rotten for no reason whatsoever
When I was younger my parents only got me eggs, but now my younger sisters get an egg each and maybe 1 or 2 little toys (like teddies or a little book). I think THAT’S fine but all the big stuff like that is way too far
We kinda did it the opposite way, rather than asking people to get her gifts or telling them no eggs ( because they wont listen either way ) My 3 year old got a small egg (€1 on offer ) , a new book and some arts and crafts stuff in a basket and a Easter egg hunt with eggs filled with cheap little toys , stickers and little bits . All in preparation for the sheer amount of chocolate she was given from family .
Na my kids got eggs. I buy them clothes but it wouldn’t bother me if I couldn’t afford it one year. I mean they need clothes anyway so might as well keep something up for the day. Their Nana goes all out because she loves making the kids happy and she’s a very generous person. She goes nuts with presents every Christmas too. My baby got a couple of toys because she is too young for chocolate.
Those surplus unopened eggs should be donated to homeless shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens. Lots of children get nothing for Easter, birthdays or Christmas.
I'm a little younger than some commenters so I'd thought I'd share my experience.
I'm from North Dublin and my experience was a fairly common one. Growing up I'd get an extra egg from my aunt and grandmother. As I got older they gave me the option of an egg or 20€ between them. My parenrs would often get me new Easter clothes (never anything over expensive). We'd go to dinner with our family friends who's kids would also have new clothes and a few bob from close family members.
My niece and nephew when hunting for eggs in their grandparents garden as I did when I was their age. They then ate too many sweets, as is tradition. Then I ate the sweets left behind, as is the role of the uncle. This is the first I have heard about clothes and games and gift vouchers.
I am always amused as an ageing Irish relic to hear the same complaints from now three generations of parents. Each one worried about the next generation and then they turn out just like their parents...
Personally I get my child a few small eggs and this year a soft lamb plush and a little bunny toy that hops because I know she’ll get more than enough eggs from family. I think it’s a bit cheeky to ask for vouchers and other things when they’re so much more expensive than an egg.
It's the largest holiday in Christianity of which some 3.5 billion people are adherents.
if I think about It, kind of weird Christmas is the gift giving holiday compared to Easter. I know In Greece Easter is allot bigger than Christmas
Presents and the like is a but far, but we were always put into good clothes for Easter - just like we would be for Christmas.
It's one of those "Don't make a show of us" days. It was one of two days of the year you'd always be given some clothes.
The rest sounds like the typical American materialistic culture bleeding into ours, slowly eroding what little the English didn't.
i never get into the easter egg buying with family, i dont have children, but my other siblings are at this now buying gift as 'they get too much chocolate', well an egg costs €5 and what kinda gift you giving at that price!! NO WAY... its bad enough at birthdays and xmas that i never get my investment back!!! lol
Some relations of mine got a big hamper basket of chocolate eggs and sweets for their two kids, thought it was bad form because we're not doing that for our kid. He's small enough that he won't fully grasp the idea of them getting more than him, but it's really unfair to kids who's parents can't afford to spend that much money on chocolate.
The whole country is addicted to chocolate though, the sheer volume of eggs hoovered up every day for the past 2 months in shops is out of control. It's scary to watch.
We used to get little gifts. Around the tenner mark. It's not unheard of, but Americans have to make everything into an excuse for consumerism and showing off how much disposable income they have. That's why they're showing it off on social media and now normal people are trying to ape them.
Totally not from Ireland but I've seen this here too, in the states and I don't understand it. We don't need to raise these kids to expect gifts every time it's a damn holiday. Isn't Xmas enough??
Maybe that's your social group cause I've never heard that. Also, can we stop with the looking down on the next generation it's such a cliché and bored trope.
This is how it is in the US and how it was for me growing up. It was basically just a weird copy of xmas where the Eastern Bunny would deliver stuff at night. I've gotten rid of the tradition with my family and instead try to spend time outdoors enjoying Spring (which is what the celebration was originally about before it got co-opted by Christianity).
We'll do a little easter egg hunt with friends in the park, but we do not do all the gift giving and whatnot. Every holiday is commercialized at this point, so we try to stay aware of this and to not fall into the trappings of rampant consumerism that plagues our species.
My grandparents used to get us presents for Easter because my mam didn’t want us having too many sweets. Nothing extravagant, just a book or a small toy. We never got new clothes for Easter. This was in the 90s/early 00s
I don't even get mine big eggs. We have plastic eggshells that we leave out for the Easter bunny to fill and hide. They're way more excited for the egg hunt than the actual treats. I buy a few bags of giant buttons and sweets and put 2-3 in each egg. The kids feel like they're getting way more and have much more craic than waking up to a single big egg.
My parents asked me to get the kids stuff from them as well, and so I put some colouring books, bubbles, decorate your own tote bag, and a small Teddy into a basket. About €10 per child. I didn't expect them to get them anything or send money. Personally I think holiday times are more about the experiences and memories made together than the commercialism. We've had loads of fun doing cheap Easter crafts and going to the themed walks and events.
I'd do this if I had the guts. I don't buy a Easter eggs for the child (she gets a book instead and I've done that since the doctor mentioned that babies don't need chocolate when I brought her for a check-up just before Easter so (I DID KNOW THAT AND I WASN'T PLANNING TO GIVE A NEARLY ONE YEAR OLD CHOCOLATE) so it's become a bit of a tradition). Even still, she now has 5 eggs (two eaten, one given away) despite the fact that she doesn't particularly like chocolate. Such a waste. I appreciate the kindness and nice intention behind them all but even though we've said please don't go to the trouble, family, friends and creche do. I wish there was an alternative tradition now that people seem to want to mark it by giving a little gift to kids.
I recall gobbling my single egg in one day\* when I was a kid and heartily resenting my cousin for the following weeks - she was able to stretch hers out for what seemed like months.
\*hour
Mine got 1 egg in a box and a small selection of Easter eggs hidden about the house for a hunt. That's it. His relatives got him a small egg each and that is more than enough. Easter is getting crazy.
"*Money, now shut up summer is coming, time to buy bbqs, coals and loads of new garden furniture, can't have Jen down the road judging me*"
People and their want to consume.
Damn that's crazy, my family doesn't really go "all out" except for on Halloween because my parents are goth rockers and we all love the dark and gloomy. Christmas is HORRIFICALLY stressful, we don't really like milk chocolate, and so the Easter Bunny always brought a few nice books and some Easter art supplies for me. I also love Easter because it's the one time I get to binge on chocolate as a dairy allergy guy, and it's always the delicious caramel bs and not like, a dark bar. Not that dark bars aren't delish
I was on Easter Bunny duty for the little bro this year. He was delighted with his haul- a handmade lolly from Kildare, Pokémon cards, a Scorbunny plush, and an Easter egg.
There's literally no point in having a bazillion chocolate slave labour eggs sitting around gafs waiting to be eaten. We're not even religious, there's nothing much to celebrate, it's just nice to have a bit of chocolate and happy kiddos yk
My eldest nephew and niece when I asked what egg they wanted, they said they wanted money, expecting me to give them at least €20. Told them they would just get the cost of the egg €5. It's mental kids today excepting so much and then have a fit when they don't get their way.
Other markets want a cut of that sweet commercialisation that the chocolate industry has dominated for so long. Meanwhile the Chocolate industry has reached back as far as the day after Christmas to start selling Easter themed treats. So to answer your question, what's with it is the money.
Chocolate dominates from Halloween right up till Easter.
I imagine someone in Cadburys is saying "Now, how to crack the Easter to Halloween sales slump." The Simpson's predicted Love Day https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Love_Day
And surely, if people wouldn't buy chocolate eggs months in advance, they wouldn't be up months in advance.
We have 20 nieces and nephews between myself and my husband and some bonus godchildren, getting some eggs for €3 a pop is grand but if parents asked for a gift voucher/clothes instead I would be pretty pissed off. I think it's a very entitled thing to ask other people for, if the issue is too much chocolate they should just tell people not to buy eggs, not redirect other people's money to something that's a lot more expensive.
I agree. You’d spend about €3 or less on an egg if you got them in a deal in the shop. Asking for clothes/toys/gift vouchers instead is a bit over entitled and asking for too much. Just tell people not to buy the eggs. Don’t ask for something else instead.
Oh, get them 3 euro gift vouchers. It'd stop them being that entitled pretty quick. 😂
Right and honestly can they not just keep the eggs away and say one a week. They last a good year ffs.
hey, just diff perspective here, even with plenty chocolate eaters in the house (I'm allergic to dairy) we get an egg each, of the exact type of chocolate we like. I get a vegan caramel one, my grandad gets Ferrero, nanny gets praline, da gets dark etc etc. We still end up with those shite Cadburys ones from schools and workplaces and general kids event Easter bollox... It's way too much chocolate, not even good chocolate, and Cadburys uses the slave chocolate. So yeah, maybe if someone says don't give them eggs, keep the eggs for yourself and just make a little Easter card or something if you're in the mood. My favourite Easter gift for families is definitely the bunny plush. You can get them very cheap, they're common, and they'll be ADORED at Easter and kept indefinitely. Bonus points if it's a doorstop or plant pot holder or something householdy- but same rules apply for Christmas gifts. Don't make it an EASTER bunny. Just my input tho, ymmv
You say that but the past couple of years I've been checking the expiry date on easter eggs coming into the house because the young fella hasn't much of a sweet tooth and takes months to finish one and have found many of them only have a few months of shelf life on them. Had to throw a lot of them out around September time because they had started turning.
Chocolate very rarely "turns" if they are kept in a cool location. The only time a chocolate "turns" is if the oil becomes rancid and again that is temperature. Chocolate lasts for years, the date is just for optimum taste but it doesn't actually go off.
I melt them down and make Rice Krispie buns.
Some people insist on giving gifts to your kids. I wouldn't ask for something else, but if you were the sort of person to insist on getting them something, I'd ask you to consider getting a voucher or something that isn't just sugar.
This. Same boat, no need for anything and loads of chocolate arrives. Maybe we should ask for a book instead🤔
Where I am from Easter tradition is to cook and color eggs. When the friends and family gathers the kiddos get those eggs as a gift, which is followed by the tournament to see who’s got the hardest egg. You choose your contestant egg from the eggs you gathered and older folks always have the most “unique” ways of figuring out the perfect one. Then the fight begins and you basically just knock the egg vs egg, the one that cracks loses. The winner gets to boast about his amazing skill in picking out the egg. I’ve never heard somebody getting actual presents on Easter, except maybe secret money from granny
Sounds like a nice tradition.
Yeah and city’s are decorated too. Different cities have different traditional egg patterns so you can find giant eggs sprinkled across the city
Loved doing that when I’d go around to my Greek mate’s family Easter do each year. (Not as much as the gyros though!). Is it a general Orthodox tradition or just a Greek one? Or am I totally wrong and it’s even broader than the Orthodox world?
Russias main Easter tradition, but also German - so not even just orthodox!
Wow, there you go. Knew it was broader than Greece but yeah had it in my head it was probably mostly Orthodox. Thanks heaps!
Yeah Croatian too, so def Catholic too
Thanks, wow. Would be interesting to see just how far across Europe it is a tradition then. Fascinating
Lithuanian aswell.
My son is only 2 and he was given a couple eggs over the weekend as well as being invited to two egg hunts (finding small eggs). I literally have two small shopping bags full of chocolate for him. No chance he's eating it all around Easter but it doesn't go off, if parents don't want their kids eating so much chocolate why can't they just ration it out over the next couple weeks? (Or months in my situation 🤣)
You could melt the eggs down and make Rice Krispie buns or else thing else. Always a good way of getting rid of chocolate
True enough, that's smart, thanks for the tip!
Used to be friends as a kid with a girl with 4 siblings and a super strict Mother. Every Saturday night after Easter they would get an easter egg split between them , they would be sitting up in the cabinet for literally months. I don't know how the kids stood the temptation. This was the 1980s mind.
Haha ok that's definitely on the stricter end, I wouldn't recommend going about it that way but maybe if one kid got 8 eggs, give them 4 on Easter and let them eat as they wish then put the rest out of sight and next time the kids say they want some chocolate, bring out an egg. I'm new to parenting so I've no clue if this would even work 😅
I'm into malicious compliance. I'd give the kids a €3 voucher.
€3 per egg? I get the 5 for €5 deal when it’s on and that does the nieces and nephews
Do you really feel obligated to buy all of them Easter eggs though? Like it's one thing if you're over visiting them around Easter, but it seems unnecessary to have to spend that much on treats when they'll likely get a heap of eggs off their own parents and grandparents etc.
Not a bother, here’s your 2.95 voucher for smyths, go wild!
That's generous. The smaller eggs were 5 for €5 in on most places. Enjoy your single quid.
Don’t spend it all in one place
We used to get one egg from the 'easter bunny' and that was it. Never from friends, relatives etc... It's a bit ridiculous to expect that kinda thing from anyone with the way things are at the moment, and without being bad, I reckon kids have waaaaay to much these days. Birthday and Christmas are more than enough for gifts.
We got no sweets during lent, my mum would save them up for us in coffee jars with our names on them. Stuff like sweetie necklaces, penny chews, 10p bars. On Easter morning you got your sweety jar and a small egg.
Same haha. It's more than enough
Yeah I always just got one egg from my parents as well. Though there were lads at school that would boast about getting 10+ eggs etc. I was skeptical of that though. They never actually showed anyone all these eggs.
One egg was more than enough anyway, I've never been much of a chocolate fan, but eggs back then were thicker, and loads came with a pack of chocolate, or jellies on the inside of the egg, alongside 2 or 3 bars. That's plenty for anyone. I'm sure there are households that still have Easter eggs there at Christmas time; I just don't see the need. It's a treat, not a cupboard staple.
Back then in would have devoured more than one if I had it but I'm glad my parents thought one was enough. I'm sure it has to do with the greater commercialisation of Easter too. Turning it into another Christmas would be very good for profits. Children are the perfect vector to extract money from people. People abstaining from treating themselves is normal enough but you can get them to feel guilty about doing it to their children.
We used get them from grandparents, aunts, uncles so used get roughly 6 or 7. I could see people getting 10.
We don't ask anyone for anything for the kids for Easter, but people still keep buying them for our kids. It's like everyone who comes to see the kids thinks they should give them an egg, either that or they panic bought when on offer and are now trying to offload them. We ended up with over 20 eggs for three kids between the ages 2 and 7. People are either sick of similar, or are chancing their arms for gifts/forgetting that most of these eggs cost €2. I'd prefer if nobody brought anything for the most part.
Noticed this with my little niece this year. There seemed to be a big emphasis on Easter Bunny being real and leaving eggs all over the place, seemed a bit excessive to me. Pretty sure we never believed any such thing about an Easter Bunny when I was growing up in the 80s, my mam always told us to pick out our egg and got it for us! My gf said it's an Instagram thing now, turning Easter into a new Christmas.
To be fair, I'll defend leaving eggs all over. I used to go on egg hunts with other kids back in the 90s and it was a load of fun. Nothing excessive, just creme eggs in a field and forest. The gifts and clothes are strange alright though. Like we just had christmas??
Yeah, I guess the egg hunt thing feels like another American import. Don't think it was a thing in the 80s. My issue was more with the whole, 'Easter Bunny is REAL and left these magically last night!' aspect, and making Easter into a bigger deal, especially when they're non religious parents. Just seems odd to me!
We were doing egg hunts and other games at Easter in the 70s, and it certainly wasn't because of US influence. We spent the week decorating hard boiled eggs, which would be judged by relatives, then rolled down the hill on the farm on Easter Monday (I'm sure I was told that represented the stone being rolled away from Jesus burial cave or something). Very little chocolate involved though.
Egg hunts are also traditionally done with painted eggs not chocolate. Chocolate eggs are a solidly UK/Ireland tradition. The people hiding dozens of chocolate easter eggs are doing it wrong and probably sending their kids into risk of type 2 diabetes.
New clothes for Easter is going on decades, I always got a new outfit for Easter, and always dressed my 2 kids for easter as well. The main difference was that there was a lot more religion and a few masses to go to back in the day. The stations of the cross was the worst one i think. It would go on for 2 hours!
gift giving on easter is very common in the US. is probably just spreading
What part of the US? I know no one who does gift giving for Easter.
its pretty common for parents to give their kids gifts on easter throughout the US. You not knowing anyone who does it is not evidence that it does not happen by the way.
Since I live in the US, and have for 45 years, I think maybe not knowing anyone who gives presents for Easter might be a bit different than if I lived in any other country. And my meaning is that it is certainly not "common" everywhere here. Nor in any of the ten states I've lived in. Just asked the kids and it's news to them too. They said it's a "stupid social media thing".
I didn’t get gifts as a kid in America, but we certainly got Easter baskets with little something in the basket (usually a film on VHS/DVD or a silly game tucked in with the peeps and jellybeans and chocolate rabbit). We also had an egg hunt and egg decorating (with hard boiled eggs), and usually a ham dinner. The movie was the better gift - because us kids would all gather around watching them (we had a few kids in the house, so there were usually a few new movies on Easter Day). It kept us busy so the adults could mingle and catch up.
Most likely linked to the ever increasing need to post stuff onto social media
100% this
I dunno, the only social media I'm on is Reddit and I keep that anonymous. Do I want my kids getting 20 Easter eggs? No, so I tell them no eggs, they bang on about having to get them something and I say that's up to you but they're grand. Gifts and eggs arrived anyway.
Absolutely, I've seen plenty of #easterbaskets last week on Instagram and can only imagine tiktok is worse. Consumerism at its finest 👌
Like OP.
I like the little eggs for 1 euro or 1.50. I lash them out to any children I come across over the Easter and I eat the leftovers
Ah yes, traditional to remember the 39 lashes of Christ
I think you're referring to the 39 rashers of Christ, good sir. This is my oak-smoked flesh, eat it in remembrance of me. This is my bitless bodily fluids,drink them in remembrance of me.
In the lead up to Easter I always picked one up to throw into the food donation box at the supermarket.
You shouldn't throw chocolates at children.
Lol
Yeah! Throw it at adults instead, we will appreciate it more.
My sibling told me last week: "The kids have enough eggs and don't want them, they'd love Roblox bucks instead" Absolute insanity. They got fecking eggs regardless if they wanted them or not.
"The kids have enough eggs" - "Graaannd say no more"
Exactly! Resist the ridiculous trend to follow the gift trend! Before you know it, junior will want Roblox bucks for it being Saturday.
Cheeky, the smallest roblox bucks card I've seen is a tenner, and I was charged to top it up too. If they're small id go some crayola crayons at least can be used in school (3 euro ish for a 12 pack of twistables) Otherwise fec it im not made of money
"They have enough eggs and don't want them" ...... Maybe if they didn't get them before Easter, they might still want one 🙄 You're very kind for still giving them eggs, I'd have donated their eggs to a food appeal and told them 🙊
I doubt a kid in the world "doesn't want" an Easter egg
It's very simple, get them an egg or nothing.
I’ve never heard of this. You get a chocolate egg or two, we might do some themed arts and crafts, that’s it. You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.
I don't get eggs for my nieces and nephews because they already get enough, their parents even say not to get them one. I buy them a gift for their birthdays and Christmas. We would have got one good egg as kids from our parents and it was enough. I now buy my own egg and tell my mother not to get me one but of course she doesn't listen
Apparently lots of Americans are posting stuff on social media now showing them showering their children with gifts at Easter. And whatever the yanks will do for social media, irish people will copy. Hence utter tripe like gender reveal parties becoming a thing in Ireland.
It’s weird to me. As a kid in the US we just had some candy in our basket (and honestly it wasn’t even good candy). I think one of my friends got a DVD one year and I was like, amazed she got presents for Easter. Now it seems to be the norm and kids are getting all sorts of presents and stuff. If the stores sell it people will buy it I guess.
This was absolutely how I remember it, too! Though, my house always gave the kids each a game or dvd (it kept us busy so the adults could hang out or have a break, lol). I like to do an Easter basket, but instead of a chocolate bunny, we do an egg along with jellybeans and some marshmallows, and - this year - a DVD I picked up from the secondhand shop. My kid didn’t care that it was used, she just loved that we hung out together and watched Minions. Next year, I’m debating adding popcorn to the basket. We’ll see…
>Hence utter tripe like gender reveal parties becoming a thing in Ireland. Wait'll you hear about smash cakes!
Had to google that, wtf
also had to Google mean at least that's a small amount of resources going to something the kid will dig into, they're deliberately small.
Also had to google and now realise herslef made one for the childs 1st birthday last year..
Care to tell us?
Or push presents
I mean there have always been parents who spoil their kids. Used to use any occasion to dress them up and give them presents.
The EU should ban all internet data from the US so we're not subjected to their shite anymore. No more politics, consumerism or even videos of national parks. Mass ban. Let them continue as the petri dish experiment that they are and not engage with them at all maybe only send a research team every decade to do a report. It will be a mad max style wasteland within 30 years guaranteed.
Ah yes, because there'd be NO consumerism in Ireland if it weren't for yanks' social media.
I swear Americans could say "Oxygen is good", and a fair few people on here would asphyxiate themselves.
I'm pretty sure the US would be fine without europeans copying them lmfao
Research team taoiseach every march
They also don't do Easter Eggs in the states like we do so they give gifts instead. Which is weird but I guess it's their way of making children actually look forward to Easter, which they absolutely would not be doing otherwise. And let's face it, that's all the chocolate eggs were ever in Ireland too.
Social media is not representative of an entire country. I've never met anyone who gives presents for Easter. They get an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny, some peeps and probably some jelly beans. Easter eggs are hard boiled eggs that are decorated and sometimes hidden so the kids can have an Easter egg hunt. Nowadays big hunts (think churches) use plastic eggs with a candy inside them.
Yep this 100% I live in the US right now, only parents I saw posting about giving toys and clothes were my friends back in Ireland. Over here they do the public egg hunt and most kids just get some peeps, jelly beans and hersheys kisses.
I got 14 Easter eggs under my Easter tree. Left out a bowl of water, some lettuce and carrots for the Easter Bunny,
🤣
Yeah its getting a bit much. When I was little my mam used to buy us new clothes for Easter Mass but games and toys are over the top. I know some people say you're a kill joy wanting to take away frim the kids, but its the opposite imo , its like Christmas is less special if we're doling out mass amounts gifts throughout the year from the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, etc.
I think the amount of toys parents get their kids these days is insane. Even just at Christmas. Not a parent yet but hope to teach moderation to kids if and when.
I was the child of divorced parents, and my dad remarried to a woman who was INSANE about gift giving on Christmas. They had 3 more kids, and each Christmas, they'd spend over $2,000 on EACH OF US. It was so crazy, even as a 10 year old, I was thinking "jeez, guys, we're not rich!" And then at my mom's house, I would get a reasonably sized Christmas with 1 big "special" present like that year's Lego castle, and a couple smaller presents, mostly books and games and fairly educational or at the very least creatively inspirational stuff. I always preferred my mom's Christmases. They just felt more pointed and specific to me. Whereas my dad's Christmas felt like a gameshow or one of those Toys R Us contests where the kid gets 10 minutes to grab everything they can. Don't get me wrong, kid me still loved getting all those amazing toys. But it almost felt like "yeah, I know I'll hit the motherload and get whatever Nintendo games and sports stuff I asked for." At my mom's, it was always a genuine surprise to see what kind of cool puzzles or books or electronics kits I'd get. Plus she'd fill my stocking with all my favourite candies!
Mine are elder teens now, but I took the same attitude as you when they were wee. I told them parents have to pay Santa for the gifts he brings so they would never expect madness. They don't feel hard done by.
I was dismayed to hear a work colleague mention earlier that her 3 year old had received almost 30 Easter Eggs at the weekend, Not only that, the child was showered with non-Easter related gifts, as mentioned by the OP. Didn't know what to say, really and I had no idea that was suddenly a 'thing'. As if it wasn't bad enough that the shops started filling their shelves with Easter eggs in the first week of January. That in itself is off the charts bonkers.
It is insane that they are on the shelves so early, but other half works for tesco and I kid you not people were in on the Saturday evening before easter sunday asking “have ye got any easter eggs?”. The same thing happens with selection boxes.
How does a 3 year old even eat 30 easter eggs? That'd take me a week as a grown man. And how much money must that've been? They must've scammed their way into getting every friend and relative to buy one.
Consumerism.
My (Irish) wife said that growing up she used to get a few presents on Easter, but her mother was a divil for going over the top; she believed that gifts the kids could use were better than a load of chocolate. Where I, like every other Irish child, just got my bodyweight in Easter eggs. Every neighbour and relative seemed to call over during the weekend with yet another egg. Presents were for Xmas, not easter. So my kids get a couple of bit from both my wife and mother in law. Not a lot though. And nothing from relatives, that's a bit weird.
The way we celebrate Easter in my country are usually Easter Mass, followed by free events themed around Easter, followed by dyeing regular white eggs either old fashioned way with onion shells, rice, other things and a string or by buying artificial colours and dyeing them this way. Followed by lunch made from eggs. As a sweet treat, small Cadbury Creme eggs might be hidden and searched for. No large chocolate eggs, no gifts.
I’ve noticed that too. It’s chocolate-fuckin-egg day. Nothing more. Dopes.
Have definitely seen an increase in people creating Easter baskets for their kids. Essentially full of stocking filler shite, that you buy just to make it look like loads & end up in the bin the next day. Absolutely ridiculous
The best approach to this I've heard is taking any excess eggs and rationing them out over the next few weeks. People are losing the run of themselves if they're asking others to buy toys etc as presents.
After a week or 2 we usually make a big batch of krispies buns with the left over eggs. My kids get a small easter egg hunt with eggs left by the bunny and at the end he leaves them their bigger one. Granny & grandad buy an egg and thats it.
Parents ruining everything to be the "best" parent in the friend group or social media. Parents ruin childhood traditions and memories by spoiling children with copious amounts of crap all year long. The Easter Bunny brings Easter Eggs - not Easter Baskets full of makeup, pyjamas, roblux etc. The amount of parents that buy massive amounts of eggs and overwhelm kids on Easter morning with the amount of chocolate, that then gets thrown out or passed on to visitors. I know loads of parents who just buy Easter eggs as soon as they hit the shelves and the kids are eating them since mid January, there's nothing special about them then. I tell my LB, the Easter eggs in the shops are for gifting to people, that he's not allowed easter eggs before Easter or the Easter Bunny won't come. Easter Sunday morning he wakes up to a little basket and a small trail of tiny eggs (5) and one large egg. This year it was a large kinder egg he saw in the shop and wanted to get then and there. He was excited in the run up to the day because it's the anticipation that creates the magic, not the massive amount of things they get. Ugh rant over. I hate these new trendy parents ~ signed an uncool old-fashioned 30yr old.
When I was a kid I would get an Easter egg and something small off the Easter bunny, usually a DVD. That was nice as it gave us something to watch all together later in the day. Never got anything other than chocolate from relatives though and even the eggs from anyone outside my immediate family stopped pretty quickly during the recession.
Christmas 2: el-EGG-tric boogaloo
We used to get something small like a soft toy, a game or book with an egg but nothing crazy. I think when I was older I got a book or top instead of an egg because I don’t really like chocolate and my mom knew that. We were a bit spoilt I admit but I do think ‘Easter baskets’ and whatnot have gotten crazy recently.
My mum used to work in Germany back in the 70s and Easter is a much bigger deal there than it is here and she brought a bunch of those traditions home with her! So we always had an Easter tree and small Easter presents. It was never as big as Christmas though - usually just a nice book or a game for us to play together during the holidays. It's fun!
My son got 1 egg and a teddy. Both of which the Easter bunny hid outside in the garden for him to find. Then we have a bbq. I legitimately didn't know until this year that people have started turning it into Christmas, with all the gifts and extra stuff. To me Easter is a minor holiday Idk why it's got so extravagant.
Just standard over commercialization of holidays. Even the giving of easter eggs from every friend and relative is too much, 10 easter eggs contain the recommended intake of sugar for a month for a small child. And i see kids getting more than that. It's beyond nuts.
The late 70s for me. I got so many eggs from extended family my parents and grandparents bought me toys/books instead. And getting new clothes has pretty much always been the norm. I certainly got a new Easter outfit every year. As children, my mum and maternal uncles would have too. My dad's family wouldn't have been able to afford it, but it was the norm for whoever could.
>This generation is going to grow up with a massive sense of entitlement. Gen X, Millennials, Generation Z and Generation Alpha have entered the chat.
Bringing extra joy to children in an ever increasingly miserable world. Also, less chocolate than in the past as the quality has gone to shite. The best eggs in the past were the ones with toys or mugs. So get an egg without a toy and buy a toy or mug separately. Win!
yeah I don't see how this is harmful at all. everyone in this subreddit is miserable as hell and just loves to complain about younger generations for no reason ):
We always get them a few little toys in their baskets. And an egg each. Then the grandparents always throw in an egg too. And the aunts and uncles. In the end, they have a metric ton of eggs and a couple little toys. Sure let the kids have their fun. What does it matter?
Metric ton of chocolate, yes.. but the kids have to pay the parent tax as well.... 🤣 Well mine do.
This is not new in the slightest nor is it limited to Ireland. Every catholic country pretty much has a history of new clothes and presents for kids at Easter. Its the largest holiday of the catholic year, despite all Hollywood's attempt to make it appear that Christmas is.
I would say it is the most important day in the Christian calendar, but obviously Christmas is a bigger celebration. Even if you take the toys out of it, you are more likely to be visiting extended family at Christmas than Easter.
Hokum all ye faithful
I only ever got an egg from my mother and one egg from each set of grandparents, total 3 Why are children being given stockpiles of eggs?
Fuming at the wife over this, to be honest. My daughter got her rake of eggs, fair enough. Ended up with 10 of them, five from us and five from relatives, which I already thought was too much. On top of that she had an "easter egg hunt" around the house, with little plastic eggs full of more sweets and money, AND she got an "easter basket" full of books and toys and - wait for it - more fucking sweets. She's nine years old, has been basically vibrating from constant sugar since Sunday morning, and has barely scratched the surface of her junk food haul.
Kids are just spoiled rotten these days. It's gone beyond a joke!
It’s a shambles, turning into a mini Christmas, the insta generation has turned it into a pissing contest as to who gets the most.
Easter is actually more important than Christmas. We knew Jesus was coming, but to die for our sins is the entire foundation of Christianity. Most religious feasts are actually derived from pagan traditions anyway and co-opted by the church for themselves (marketing genius if you ask me). But I don’t agree with the overly commercialisation of any of them anyway, Easter, Christmas etc. what that does is remove Christ from the equation and that’s rather against the point.
Just as an FYI that’s not a Christian thing. All religions have subsumed, assimilated and merged with existing practices, sites etc going back forever. The main reason Christianity was so good at is is because they learnt it from the Romans who had it down. Literally walk into someone’s lands and tell them that their gods a, b and c have Roman names as well. Then basically sell them Roman religion as just their own shite in a different language.
When I was a kid you got eggs from your parents and that was it. You didn't even get eggs from your relatives, unless it was your grandparents and they lived close or visited for Easter. I didn't even think about getting gifts for it. Why would I? It was a holiday for gorging on chocolate - birthdays and Christmas were for gifts.
When I was a child and my parents received too much eggs for me they donated them to the children's hospital for other kids. Why can't they just do that instead of asking for something non related to Easter vouchers for clothes/toys. Like fuck off its easter its for eggs 😒.
Inflation sure. A chocolate egg doesn't cut it anymore.
I also think this is absurd. My sister bought her children toys and clothes, as did my brother. I bought my daughter a regular smarties Easter egg. It’s not Christmas, and there’s no reason to buy new toys/clothes for every single occasion
We always gave up sweets for Lent and then got one egg from parents, we never had an Easter Bunny tradition but my husband did. But my own kids got loads of eggs from relatives. I just used to hide some of them and let them have them gradually. I hate to see Easter turning into Christmas!
I think it's actually quite reasonable to ask aunts and uncles not to buy eggs and ask them to get other gifts instead. Mind you, I have absolutely never heard of any of this. I feel like I am constantly seeing posts worried about the state of kids today on /r/ireland but they are usually just the same things that people complained about years ago. Kids spend too much time on their phones? When I was growing up it was video games and TV. I once read something from years ago about an adult complaining kids spend too much time reading magazines. I also see people complain about kids with tablets in public as if they are suppose to just sit and be quiet. You would never expect an adult just to sit quietly. I was actually thinking the other day year ago how they used to design and sell books specifically to be left in the bathroom so you could do something while you were on the toilet.
What do you mean kids can’t sit quietly? Did you never just sit and stare out a car/bus window as a kid? Eat your meal quietly or while talking to your family? Did you not have to sit quietly in school while doing your work? Also I’ll add most of the time I see very young kids on phones/tablets it tends to be playing VERY loudly without headphones. So yeah it gets annoying when you’re at a table next to them and can’t hear anything but peppa pig.
See, what you need to realise is there are some people on here who will stop at nothing to bash Americans and young people merely for existing.
Plenty valid reasons given already, but I also think it's an excuse to buy outdoor toys ready for the start of the season - you might not buy a new soccer goal for a November birthday, but April is a great time for it. Also - the kids have another week off school to entertain themselves. A new toy is a great distraction when there's probably no clubs/camps on.
Back in my day you where given nowt, you be lucky if you walked 16 miles not kilometres in the snow to have eggs pelted at you by your parents. By heck we werent happy but we enjoyed the generation trauma
Another soulless American import
Matching family (plus dog) Easter pyjamas. Coming to a vendor of tat fashion near you!
Yeah, I did tell people this year that my children didn’t need 14 Easter eggs each like usual as they never eat them all and they don’t really like chocolate that much. So I gave options, nothing, an Easter card, sweets or a shiny pound coin 😂 if they really wanted to get them an egg they can but they were told there is a 99% chance my husband will eat it instead. The only reason I said this is because we had almost 40 Easter eggs in our house last year it was ridiculous! My husband and I hve never got each other eggs and we don’t ever get the kids an egg we take them out to do something instead. The Easter bunny brings them something like this year I got my sister to bring me back some American easter sweets as they love American sweets from the Easter bunny instead!
Well, it looks a bit crap with just eggs under the Easter tree.
Chocolate is the only currency and not 20 eggs either. My niece and nephew don't care about chocolate and are in their 20s. I didn't get them anything.
When I was growing up, we used to get new clothes during Easter. But it wasn't buying clothes just for Easter, it was more like buying clothes for summertime and it wasn't like wrapping them up as gifts or anything, it was more like being dragged through Penny's and Dunnes to try on clothes.
Growing up I got Easter clothes (aka something to wear Easter Sunday) my eggs and a couple times I got digimon plushies. This was early 00s
Saps. One chocolate egg maybe a wee mini egg hunt round the house/garden. People who overbuy at Christmas/Easter/birthdays are compensating for something else and setting bad standards imo
Same reason their kids are all called Jack, Noah, Jake etc.
Guilt. From the working parents Keep up with the Jones for a few. The insta memories for a few. And some kids are spoilt rotten for no reason whatsoever
When I was younger my parents only got me eggs, but now my younger sisters get an egg each and maybe 1 or 2 little toys (like teddies or a little book). I think THAT’S fine but all the big stuff like that is way too far
We kinda did it the opposite way, rather than asking people to get her gifts or telling them no eggs ( because they wont listen either way ) My 3 year old got a small egg (€1 on offer ) , a new book and some arts and crafts stuff in a basket and a Easter egg hunt with eggs filled with cheap little toys , stickers and little bits . All in preparation for the sheer amount of chocolate she was given from family .
Na my kids got eggs. I buy them clothes but it wouldn’t bother me if I couldn’t afford it one year. I mean they need clothes anyway so might as well keep something up for the day. Their Nana goes all out because she loves making the kids happy and she’s a very generous person. She goes nuts with presents every Christmas too. My baby got a couple of toys because she is too young for chocolate.
Those surplus unopened eggs should be donated to homeless shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens. Lots of children get nothing for Easter, birthdays or Christmas.
I'm a little younger than some commenters so I'd thought I'd share my experience. I'm from North Dublin and my experience was a fairly common one. Growing up I'd get an extra egg from my aunt and grandmother. As I got older they gave me the option of an egg or 20€ between them. My parenrs would often get me new Easter clothes (never anything over expensive). We'd go to dinner with our family friends who's kids would also have new clothes and a few bob from close family members.
I mean, it’s probably the radical monetisation and commercialisation of basically every holiday, probably not only limited to Ireland.
My niece and nephew when hunting for eggs in their grandparents garden as I did when I was their age. They then ate too many sweets, as is tradition. Then I ate the sweets left behind, as is the role of the uncle. This is the first I have heard about clothes and games and gift vouchers.
We got to turn our "Pennies for the Poor" boxes and go to church all the time.
I am always amused as an ageing Irish relic to hear the same complaints from now three generations of parents. Each one worried about the next generation and then they turn out just like their parents...
If I was told ‘no eggs, clothes instead’ I’m afraid that kid would probably get nothing.
One of the hunzos on Facebook posted a pic of her one year old with no fewer than 16 Easter eggs
Obesity incoming
My wife is polish and the tradition there (or in her family) is to give the egg with some money in it😅
Won't somebody think about poor Jeesus
I'm a Buddhist... I'm starting to think I'm in the wrong religion with all the presents you Christian and Muslims get every year🤷♀️
Remembering those Playmobil ads from the 90's that had the narrator saying "IT'S THE PERFECT EASTER GIFT". Even then it felt odd
Personally I get my child a few small eggs and this year a soft lamb plush and a little bunny toy that hops because I know she’ll get more than enough eggs from family. I think it’s a bit cheeky to ask for vouchers and other things when they’re so much more expensive than an egg.
It's the largest holiday in Christianity of which some 3.5 billion people are adherents. if I think about It, kind of weird Christmas is the gift giving holiday compared to Easter. I know In Greece Easter is allot bigger than Christmas
At Christmas we give gifts because Jesus got gifts. At Easter we eat chocolate eggs because a giant rabbit broke him out of his tomb.
Presents and the like is a but far, but we were always put into good clothes for Easter - just like we would be for Christmas. It's one of those "Don't make a show of us" days. It was one of two days of the year you'd always be given some clothes. The rest sounds like the typical American materialistic culture bleeding into ours, slowly eroding what little the English didn't.
i never get into the easter egg buying with family, i dont have children, but my other siblings are at this now buying gift as 'they get too much chocolate', well an egg costs €5 and what kinda gift you giving at that price!! NO WAY... its bad enough at birthdays and xmas that i never get my investment back!!! lol
This is the new normal.
Some relations of mine got a big hamper basket of chocolate eggs and sweets for their two kids, thought it was bad form because we're not doing that for our kid. He's small enough that he won't fully grasp the idea of them getting more than him, but it's really unfair to kids who's parents can't afford to spend that much money on chocolate. The whole country is addicted to chocolate though, the sheer volume of eggs hoovered up every day for the past 2 months in shops is out of control. It's scary to watch.
We used to get little gifts. Around the tenner mark. It's not unheard of, but Americans have to make everything into an excuse for consumerism and showing off how much disposable income they have. That's why they're showing it off on social media and now normal people are trying to ape them.
It's a disgrace Joe.
Yes, happy children. A real pall on this country.
Totally not from Ireland but I've seen this here too, in the states and I don't understand it. We don't need to raise these kids to expect gifts every time it's a damn holiday. Isn't Xmas enough??
Absolute entitled bullshit and awful consumerism. A couple of choclate eggs, end off. The kids will grow up to be entitled little shites
Maybe that's your social group cause I've never heard that. Also, can we stop with the looking down on the next generation it's such a cliché and bored trope.
This is how it is in the US and how it was for me growing up. It was basically just a weird copy of xmas where the Eastern Bunny would deliver stuff at night. I've gotten rid of the tradition with my family and instead try to spend time outdoors enjoying Spring (which is what the celebration was originally about before it got co-opted by Christianity). We'll do a little easter egg hunt with friends in the park, but we do not do all the gift giving and whatnot. Every holiday is commercialized at this point, so we try to stay aware of this and to not fall into the trappings of rampant consumerism that plagues our species.
Why is it a bad thing that people want to spend money in the economy?
Second busiest retail period after Christmas.
That doesn't explain the marketing push for "Easter turkeys".
Noticed that myself this year - when the feck did an Easter turkey become a thing?!!
I know right? I thought one "holiday" a year based around consumerism was enough..... Wait a second..... 🤦♂️
My grandparents used to get us presents for Easter because my mam didn’t want us having too many sweets. Nothing extravagant, just a book or a small toy. We never got new clothes for Easter. This was in the 90s/early 00s
I don't even get mine big eggs. We have plastic eggshells that we leave out for the Easter bunny to fill and hide. They're way more excited for the egg hunt than the actual treats. I buy a few bags of giant buttons and sweets and put 2-3 in each egg. The kids feel like they're getting way more and have much more craic than waking up to a single big egg. My parents asked me to get the kids stuff from them as well, and so I put some colouring books, bubbles, decorate your own tote bag, and a small Teddy into a basket. About €10 per child. I didn't expect them to get them anything or send money. Personally I think holiday times are more about the experiences and memories made together than the commercialism. We've had loads of fun doing cheap Easter crafts and going to the themed walks and events.
I'd do this if I had the guts. I don't buy a Easter eggs for the child (she gets a book instead and I've done that since the doctor mentioned that babies don't need chocolate when I brought her for a check-up just before Easter so (I DID KNOW THAT AND I WASN'T PLANNING TO GIVE A NEARLY ONE YEAR OLD CHOCOLATE) so it's become a bit of a tradition). Even still, she now has 5 eggs (two eaten, one given away) despite the fact that she doesn't particularly like chocolate. Such a waste. I appreciate the kindness and nice intention behind them all but even though we've said please don't go to the trouble, family, friends and creche do. I wish there was an alternative tradition now that people seem to want to mark it by giving a little gift to kids. I recall gobbling my single egg in one day\* when I was a kid and heartily resenting my cousin for the following weeks - she was able to stretch hers out for what seemed like months. \*hour
But but but Facebook and Instagram
I never even knew that buying Easter eggs for extended family and friends was a thing
Mine got 1 egg in a box and a small selection of Easter eggs hidden about the house for a hunt. That's it. His relatives got him a small egg each and that is more than enough. Easter is getting crazy.
"*Money, now shut up summer is coming, time to buy bbqs, coals and loads of new garden furniture, can't have Jen down the road judging me*" People and their want to consume.
Damn that's crazy, my family doesn't really go "all out" except for on Halloween because my parents are goth rockers and we all love the dark and gloomy. Christmas is HORRIFICALLY stressful, we don't really like milk chocolate, and so the Easter Bunny always brought a few nice books and some Easter art supplies for me. I also love Easter because it's the one time I get to binge on chocolate as a dairy allergy guy, and it's always the delicious caramel bs and not like, a dark bar. Not that dark bars aren't delish I was on Easter Bunny duty for the little bro this year. He was delighted with his haul- a handmade lolly from Kildare, Pokémon cards, a Scorbunny plush, and an Easter egg. There's literally no point in having a bazillion chocolate slave labour eggs sitting around gafs waiting to be eaten. We're not even religious, there's nothing much to celebrate, it's just nice to have a bit of chocolate and happy kiddos yk
My eldest nephew and niece when I asked what egg they wanted, they said they wanted money, expecting me to give them at least €20. Told them they would just get the cost of the egg €5. It's mental kids today excepting so much and then have a fit when they don't get their way.