Easter Egg Hunt

  I’ve conveyed to friends a lesson I learn by watching children being introduced to the practice of Easter Egg Hunts.  The purpose of the game is a subtle training into the art of observation.  Take one barely-out-of-diapers child, enter the ‘18 months to 24 month old only’ fenced in Easter Egg hunting area of a public park, and you’ll quickly see the distinction of it over the rest of the Easter Egg hunting extravaganza geography. 

  In the kiddy section colored eggs are lay around in pretty much in full view.  The eggs in plain sight would be readily scooped up by the older kids, which is why, of course, the area is quadrant off for just the one and two year old toddlers; they’ve as yet to fully embraced the object of the game.

  So then, mommy brings the little darling wearing cute little bunny print dress with its white petty coat, accompanied with little white gloves and patent leather shoes into the yard, oh so pretty! Just like a living doll.  And that cutie has her ornately decorated Easter basket, adorned with silk flowers, purple and yellow ribbons, with huge bows; just all primed and ready for the event.  Mom leads the child by the hand into the safe and sparse yard and let’s her go.  The child’s momentum is stalled as she stops and looks up at mommy confused; a “what?’ look of concern painted on her little dimpled face.  Mom and Dad hop right to it, pointing at the nearest egg laying in a clump of grass. 

   “Look, look, there…right there” as the child watches their animated gesturing. She puzzles on their behavior:

  Well, she hasn’t had this much undivided attention by both parents since potty training, this is really quite unexpectedly great; the blush of power must be intoxicating, so she looks at where they are pointing and waving and eventually focuses on a colorful, oblong something.  She reaches down and picks it up to examine it, then to show it to them; partly because she can’t speak, she’s really not quite sure if this is what they’re all excited about, so she shows them holding it out at arm length in her ‘this?’ gesture.

    When she does, the parents go orgasmic with how quickly their sweet little darling is picking up how to hunt Easter Eggs.  The volume and octave of the parent’s voices convey unbridled excitement along with even more hurried and erratic gesturing. 

   “Put it in the basket, put it in your basket” they unintentionally scream as they hurriedly alternate between pointing at the egg to the basket, back and forth in a frenzied manner.  The child of course is totally bewildered why her parents are so agitated? Also, she notes, not in an angry, reprimanding and scornful way, that has been  slowly becoming more frequent along with more and more silly tasks they are trying to teach her; like when she pulled the cats tail. No, this was a different energetic and needful way.  The child reasoned, she was not just the center of attention, she was the crucial element in this drama; and concludes, she is certain of it.  By chance, the child places the colorful item in the thing hanging from the crook of her arm.  The parent react like a high school cheerleading squad after a touchdown; doing high-five to one another and screaming in delight; followed by heaps of hugs, smiles, laughter and physical signs of approval… Ah yes, that diamond treasure of emotions…approval.

   She made the connection of finding and collecting the colorful egg with this avalanche of approval instantly.  She smiles with confidence and comfort of being the object of their adoration; as they are the God’s of her universe, what could possibly be better than that?  Having looked at the little colorful egg nestled in the basket, she considers the proposition of getting more of these little nuggets to prolong this wave of enthusiastic delight.  When the child gazes up from studying the little thing at the bottom of her basket and upon the horizon; she now sees a host of little colorful eggs lying about.  She didn’t see them when she came into the toddler park, but she can certainly spot them now; having been introduced to the subtle relationship of cause and effect, she now goes after those colored eggs like they were the magical key to every door of desire in her world... 

  For reasons unspoken, some children never grow beyond that effort to find something to show, something to achieve, in order to get the bath of acceptance and approval.  Yes my friends; welcome to the birth of deserving.