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Sugar-free parents are destroying the joy of Easter by rationing their children’s chocolate…

Easter is a wonderful time of the year. Stuffing your face with chocolate is completely acceptable and there are a whole four days to spend time quality time with family and friends.

It’s a time when normal rules about sweet treats don’t apply and you might just end up with a chocolate induced stomach ache. Some parents, however, are being dubbed ‘Easter Grinches’ for choosing to limit how much they let their children indulge over the long weekend.

A Sticky Situation

Parents aiming to reduce their children’s sugar intake over Easter often opt to buy gifts instead of chocolate, but many believe this is doing more harm than good.

Barbara O’Reilly (known as Patchwork Cactus to her followers) admitted that things are getting out of hand.

“Are we really doing this? Are kids really getting a pile of toys from the Easter bunny now?” she wrote. “The trend towards chocolate-free Easter gifts has somehow gotten way out of control.”

It does seem like a once simple celebration, with a couple of chocolate eggs, a cuddly toy for younger kids, and floury Easter bunny footprints, has turned into a full-blown gift-giving extravaganza. And for what? To prevent a few days of sticky fingers and a once a year break from the rules? It all sounds a little over the top to us…

It’s Only Temporary

While showering your child with gifts instead of chocolate may not sound ‘grinchy’, the idea that children can’t have a couple of Easter eggs once a year is. Kids are only kids for a fleeting amount of time, ideally able to eat whatever they want without guilt or judgment. Restricting them constantly, especially when they are surrounded by temptation, is only going to lead to issues later on.

Extreme Easter

That being said, we can completely understand parents being concerned about the extreme Easter eggs that have become somewhat of a trend in recent years. One Cadbury creation was even labelled ‘dangerous’ for children under four due to its size and sugar content. There’s also a gynormous 6kg Violet Crumble easter egg on sale this year, costing $250 and available from Costco. This egg contains around whopping 32,000 calories (which would be the entire nutritional needs for an average person for 16 days – based on 2,000 calories per day.) Wow!

Excess of any kind, whether that’s gifts or chocolate, is never a good thing and we’re definitely not endorsing kids eating whatever they want all year round. Allowing your kids to have a few sweet treats for one weekend, however, isn’t the end of the world, and is well worth the excitement and magic when they wake up on Sunday morning!

Are you guilty of being an ‘Easter Grinch’? Let us know in the comments below!

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  • When I was a child we would wake up on Easter Sunday and on the table where each of us would sit was our easter stash. One large Egg and a few little ones. It was over to us how much we ate and when. We would all make the eggs last for several days.
    I did the same with my kids and if they wanted to eat chocolate first thing in the morning on Easter Sunday then so be it. Its one day in the year….get over it. Unless your child is diabetic then leave it alone.

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  • It’s true that It does seem like a once simple celebration, with a couple of chocolate eggs, a cuddly toy for younger kids, and floury Easter bunny footprints, has turned into a full-blown gift-giving extravaganza.
    I suppose it also depends on how you want to celebrate Good Friday and Easter. Not for everybody it’s all about presents, chocolates and bunnies

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  • As we are sick we have delayed the Easter Brunch we had planned for today till we are all feeling better. So this morning, we all ate chocolate and treats for brekky! The kids chose when they had had enough. I have gestational diabetes so had a mixture of sugar free and real chocolate in a small quantity. Gestational diabetes means there’s a higher chance that my baby will have diabetes so will be monitoring my children’s chocolate/sugar intake. Not as issue to care about your children and their health

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  • I bought a bunny and some big eggs and shared mini eggs. I also buy a new set of pjs. We get a bit from others too. Usually bunnies and mini eggs. My kids are still finishing off Christmas Chocolate and lollies. Halloween lollies were just finished before January.

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  • I think calling someone an Easter Grinch because they are conscious of what their kids are consuming isn’t ok. You can actually get eggs from most health shops that have no added sugar and they taste BETTER than the eggs available in the supermarket. Lovingearth is a great brand for mini eggs such an indulgent rich taste without the crappy ingredients, plus they are better for the environment too.


    • Yes, we love the Loving Earth Chocolate and I bought some beautiful big Pana chocolate Easter eggs from Woolworths, which were wonderful too

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  • It’s one day, let them go for it.

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  • Guess it also depends on how many are in the family, especially the extended part, as to how many Eggs the children get. Silly to let the eat until they are sick, but a couple of smallish ones a day for a few days wouldn’t hurt. Thanks for keeping us all up to date with these times.

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  • I think a couple of eggs and a nice family lunch is the way to go

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  • 0Agree with a previous comment, each to their own! I personally think Easter isn’t shouldn’t be about gifts or chocolate, however saying that I love eating eggs.

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  • I have always bought new winter PJ’s and chocolate eggs for the kids. This year my daughter wanted a book instead so I bought that instead of the PJ’s which she didnt need anyway

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  • I love the idea of new pjs every Easter for them along with some chocolate

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  • We love annual occasions and Easter is one of them. Its not all about chocolate but we like seeing our son’s face light up. We allow chocolate any day of the year but there’s something about an egg hunt that makes it a bit fun and special

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  • One year my children were given so much chocolate by my inlaws that one child went crazy and the other one felt sick! The one that felt sick didn’t eat chocolate for about 6 months afterwards. Now they get pyjamas!

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  • I’m not a Grinch over Easter but I have been known to go overboard with the chocolate eggs. I remember when I was young, I received a large white marshmallow bunny and it was covered in coconut to resemble the fur. I loved it but they are no longer available. It’s a pity really because I’d get a few small chocolate eggs with the rabbit sitting in the centre. Anyone else remember them

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  • They don’t ruin it for me. Yeah, there’s heaps of sugar in Easter eggs, but it only happens once a year. Eat healthy fir the rest of the year (excluding Xmas and bdays) and it’s all good. My kids never had weight or health issues from eating badly

    Reply

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