Easter in Five Acts

Act One: Easter egg hunt at school (Friday)

Cate finds the GOLDEN EGG.  Jack is very, very, VERY disappointed.  There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Act Two: Easter egg hunt at Kris and Nathalie's (Saturday)

No golden egg, just lots and lots of eggs chock full o' candy and treats.  Despite the ridiculous number of children present, all baskets are literally overflowing.  Much sugar-induced merriment.  Hats off to Nathalie and Kris, and here's hoping Gabe and Jayden have recovered from the sugar high.

Act Three: Easter egg hunt at church (Sunday morning)

After much diligent looking (and maybe a teensy hint from a parental unit) Jack finds the GOLDEN EGG.  This turns out to be a life-changing event, as our formerly shy son begins approaching every single person on the lawn to share tales of his good fortune.  Again, such an over abundance of treat-filled eggs that the challenge is not so much *finding* the eggs as it is *not stepping on them* and even the non-golden-egg-finding siblings are content.

Act Four: Easter egg hunt at Amelie's house (Sunday noon)

Danielle has thoughtfully put out a quantity of eggs that is divisible by four (and no GOLDEN EGG).  I add my egg-offering and completely change that dynamic (pats self on back).  Regardless all the kids have a blast actually having to hunt for the eggs.  Children consume chocolate in various forms while the adults enjoy a magnificent lunch.

Act Five: Easter egg hunt at Chris and Dawn's house (Sunday afternoon)

Because we still have not had our fill of easter egg hunting, we conclude with a final hunt with cousins Malcolm and Xander.  The dads hide the eggs while the moms occupy the kidlets with decorating real hard-boiled eggs and dyeing their hands in a veritable rainbow of hues.  Once the hunt begins we see that the dads have done a good job of making this a challenging event, and it takes the kids a while to find all the eggs.  Towards the end Cate finds - you guessed, THE GOLDEN EGG!  She turns with glee and who is standing right in front of her?  Ava.  Of course.  I am standing on the patio with Dawn, watching this all unfold......Cate turns to Ava, victoriously holding up the golden egg and yells "Look!  I found the Golden Egg!  Again!!" and Ava responds "Yay!!! That's GREAT Cathryn!  Look mom!  Cate found the golden egg!!". 

OK, can I just tell you how differently this scene would have gone down if the positions had been reversed?  I love all my children, and I think they all have the makings of excellent people, but that Ava.......I hope she never loses that ability to be truly, genuinely happy for other people, 'cause that right there is a gift.