This post was meant to be written much closer to Easter, but I think you will be able to follow along anyway.

Cael is the last “believer” in the house. Quinn put the Easter Bunny, Santa, and the Tooth Fairy down on the same day a few months ago. Cael on the other hand, despite darkly muttered hints from his brother, insists on believing, continues to believe, and seemingly will continue to believe for some time to come.

On Easter morning Cael woke up first (no real surprise there) and came into wake Nikki and I. We told him to wait for us before going downstairs as we all knew the Bunny in question had already visited and left his usual array of sugar. Nikki and I got up and ready, woke up the other two sleepyheads and went downstairs for breakfast and the main event: the Easter Egg hunt. I had filled the eggs the night before, carefully rationing the amount of gummy bears, chocolate, and peeps so there could be no fights about fairness. The eggs all have either a C, Q, or J on them to avoid any fights that way, too. So everybody knows which egg is theirs, and usually there are 10 or 12 eggs to be found with your initial on it. Quinn and Jordy like to find, and then eat. Cael on the other hand is much happier to stuff his mouth full as he goes, usually telling us what he is jamming into his yap with glee “gummy bear!”, “chocolate egg!”, “peep!” etc.

So that is why when about half of the eggs were found, I was surprised to hear Cael say loudly when he opened one of his eggs: “Hey, a toffee!”

Exhibit A - The Toffee

Nikki and I exchanged carefully blank glances at that one. She didn’t buy toffees, and I definitely hadn’t placed any toffees into any eggs. It took about a half second before the reality of the trap I had fallen into sunk in.

Cael had obviously been up for longer than we had originally thought, and had started his egg hunt a little early. Upon finding a treat, he was clearly unable to contain himself and ate it. Then, realizing his mistake, looked about for a way to fix the problem. There was the remains of an old loot bag from a birthday party nearby, which provided the toffee (which nobody likes, being the consistency of extruded plastic, you could whittle a reasonable facsimile of a Barbie toy out of one). His reasoning was sound: there was NO way that Nikki or I could POSSIBLY know what the Easter Bunny had placed into that egg. As long as there was something candy-like in there, he would be safe.

And there it is. A prison built of lies and guilt, constructed so perfectly that it is inescapable. Nikki and I are trapped, and sit helplessly, unable to break free for ruining the lie that most parents tell their kids, one that serves only the parents: There is no Easter Bunny.

As soon as Cael discovers that one, he is of course immediately in trouble. Because it will be our first day of parole from the Alcatraz we are trapped in, and it will be time to move to Grounded Town, population: Cael.

The moral of the story here? If I could do the whole parent thing over again? I would definitely do it differently. I think it’s important for new parents to know our mistake so they don’t make it, too. Learn from us, and your kids will be better for it. Just let go of the old silly ways.

Yep, if I could do it all again I would have slept on the stairs so the little bugger couldn’t get past me.