City Easter Egg Hunt- Hunger Games Style

Today I took Princess to our city's Easter egg hunt.  We went last year and so we knew what to expect a little bit.  However I couldn't help comparing it to the Hunger Games after I got home and showed the video to The Artist.

The arena field was sectioned off into 3 age groups to help the younger ones be able to get more eggs without getting trampled by bigger kids.  We arrived 20 minutes early and lined up at the edge of Princess' age group 3-4.  Here she is when we first arrived and getting excited:


 And in front of the field a few minutes before the big hunt:

Volunteers walked around every 5 minutes to remind everyone NO PARENTS were allowed in the egg area.  See where I'm going with this?!

I explained to Princess she would be going all by herself and gave her a good strategy for getting eggs.  I also told her to run as fast as she could as soon as she herd the Fire Engine signal. 

Well, there was no fire engine signal.  In the video (which I can't post because it uses our real names) I am actually in the middle of explaining about the Fire Engine signal that will tell her to go when you see two sides of the field start to divulge on the eggs.  So I hurry and tell her "Go!  Go!".

She ran in and got a few eggs and turned around to show me how excited she was and looked around where to go next.  Very cute- but probably cost her 10 eggs in the process.  But since this madness literally only lasts seconds I urged her to keep going.

Well, by about 10 seconds in I see half the arena field occupied by PARENTS!  Yes the same parents that there are not supposed to be any of!  Well, I stepped in to film her better since there were so many big people in the way now.  I told her to run into the middle because there were more eggs there, but she was beaten every time by 3-4 big people- not little people!  I eventually had to turn the camera off and help her- since this seemed to be survival of the fittest out there.

She ended up with a whopping 6 eggs!  6!  And a little bag of more candy.  I saw tiny 3-year-olds walking around with huge baskets FULL of eggs!  Not even joking!  There was now way they could've gotten that all by their little self.  Especially with the giants out there.

My sister in law was there with her two kids in a higher age group.  I asked if parents went into their filed.  She said no.  Hmmm... interesting.  Last time I checked 3 and 4 year-olds are completely capable of getting their own eggs without parents.  Maybe there is hope for next year when she is in the next age group up?

I came home and watched the video before I showed it to The Artist.  I wasn't all that aggravated until I saw how cut-throat it really was and Princess' confused expression at times.  I handed my phone over to The Artist then so he could see.  He said he didn't want to look- that it sounded like everyone was yelling for their kids to run for their life and survive.  I made him watch and he was also disgusted with the entire thing.

This is where I was reminded of the Hunger Games as soon as I heard The Artist's remarks about running for your life.  An entire field surrounded by children all vying for the treasure in the middle.  Everyone running in at once for a piece of the pie.  Yeah- sounds a little too familiar!

 (I was wanting a better picture of that heart pounding moment when the tributes all run like crazy but this was the best I could find!)

It honestly wouldn't have been that bad if parents would have just followed the rules.  Let the kids go at it- whether they get a lot or just a few, at least it would have been fair!  And it might've lasted a few minutes rather than a mere 30 seconds!

Princess did get an egg with a ticket for a prize in it- a Leap Frog Alphabet Puzzle.  Princess was happy and we talked about how the most important thing is to have fun.  She had been ruffled by the event at all.  Just stoked about her candy!  She has been playing with her little puzzle all day and chomping down the candy as fast as she can sneak 'em; unaware of the craziness that ensued earlier! I am looking forward to our family Easter Egg hunt tomorrow.  That is sure to be a lot more fun!