Easter egg hunts belong outdoors
In the latest effort to make our children as soft as possible Saturday's Easter egg hunt was moved from the outdoor spaciousness of Smith Park to inside the bowling alley. A move, I was told, made due to cold weather.
The wimpification of America continues.
Yes, it was a little chilly and the wind was blowing. But come on, this is Minnesota. We know where we are. We may not like the cold, and by the time April rolls around we're ready for spring, but we should be used to it. It happens every year. Mother Nature lures us in with a few days of unseasonably warm weather in March, then spits her venom one last time in April.
Snow happens. That's why we buy our children snowsuits - so we can have Easter egg hunts and such outside.
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The kids would be just fine outside, all bundled-up, running through the snow looking for the colored eggs. It's the parents who are quick to accept a move from outdoors to indoors. You see, this time of year we're all geared up for spring and summer. Time to break down the snowblower and push it to the far reaches of the garage, and start thinking fishing opener.
Standing around in the cold, watching kids scurry about a snow-covered park may not be everyone's idea of grown-up fun, but kids are resilient and can survive an outdoor egg hunt.
I understand, the coffee gets cold too quickly on a day like that. That's important to note.
Maybe by next year someone will release a DVD and we can all watch an Easter egg hunt in the comforts of our own homes without having to deal with the weather.
Okay, that's a little harsh.
A little more winter hits when it's not supposed to and people get grumpy and forget where it is we live. Minnesota. Unpredictable. Cold.
Granted, I'm not the toughest nut in the bunch, but when the egg hunt was moved inside I was disappointed. I questioned the move to a few friends lingering around the 1-3 year old age division at the bowling alley. When I asked why it was moved from the park, they looked at me like I was the crazy one and simply said it was too cold for the kids.
Again, WE LIVE IN MINNESOTA! That's why we buy hats and mittens and boots and snowsuits for our children, so these things can be held outside. Sure, the weather is not what we wanted. But we're hearty, resilient Midwesterners who laugh in the face of winter.
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We're only once or twice removed from the, I-walked-up-hill-five-miles-in-four-feet-of-snow-during-a-May-blizzard generation.
Let's toughen our kids up a little. Come on! If you're not with me, you're against me!
Although, my arguments against moving the hunt are primarily philosophical I do have selfish reasons as well. As a photographer, outdoors is so much better to take photos. The opportunities for great pictures were there in the park. A mud-covered Easter Bunny, kids crawling in the snow searching for eggs, etc.
By no means am I criticizing those who put this event together, but rather our society as a whole.
The Miss New York Mills Pageant organizers and royalty did a fine job of providing fun for the kids. The folks at Mills Lanes were nice enough to host the event and together they made this thing happen. For that, they deserve a lot of credit.
Once the hunt started, the kids probably didn't care one sugar-coated marshmallow bunny whether they were inside or out. They got their pictures taken with the Easter bunny. They searched for plastic eggs and collected candy, just like they would have in the park.
Sure, the move inside bugged me, but in the end the kids enjoyed themselves. That's the important thing.
That, and the adults' coffee didn't get cold.
