“MOM! I found an EGG and another EGG and another EGG! I found another golden egg.” No, my kid was not running around outside, or even inside. I downloaded an app* on the tablet. Talk about instant joy. I did it mainly for my 5 year old, but apparently the 2 year old learned how to play “Hidden Egg Hunt” by herself anyway. You can hear a high pitched voice right now, can’t you? She was so excited each time she found something. She didn’t worry about the time ticking down. She didn’t worry about the game being over, or how many eggs she found. What was important was this egg. right now. Kind of reminds me of the old adage about the boy tossing beached starfish into the sea. It matters to this one. I’m certain the same thing will happen when she attends a ‘real’ egg hunt. She’ll be so entertained by this one that she won’t keep running for more. By now big sister has it all figured out and she’s going to be in with bigger kids for the community hunt, so we’ll see how that goes-but you know she’ll be wanting to get as many as possible because she’s competitive. She knows there’s candy in there. She knows she gets to eat the candy. She has motivation beyond the hunt. The 2 year old though? Her motivation is in the finding. This time? I’m going to enjoy her finding. I’m not going to worry about bigger kids knocking her down. I won’t worry about how many she finds. I’m going to enjoy the fun that she has in finding another one mommy. Another one.
I can’t believe that this lesson is one I have forgotten over the years. It’s not a competition. It’s for fun. I’ll be having a talk with my 5 year old about that, before we go. I’ll be watching and making sure we get pictures, too. This joy is so… fleeting. I want them to remember it in years to come. Happiness can be found when you just let go and focus on this one. This one day this one hour this one minute.
*It was the Garanimals blog that pointed this app out. Get their other recommendations here. They’re all Easter themed and good for kids. I’ll admit, I tried a couple of them out, but being ‘free’ because we’re cheap, they do have a few pop up ads. This one generally only does them at the menu and it’s not super intrusive.
