Hay elevators can keep Easter baskets hidden

“The Easter Bunny” (TEB) had his first chance at really hiding a basket for my 4-year-old son, Braden, this past weekend, but he blew it, as the boy found it within minutes.
TEB has had opportunities before, but he always chose to be easy on the boy, in order to not make it too difficult on the youngster.
But at 4, Braden is now more than capable of searching hard and long for his Easter basket, and TEB really wanted to make sure he did.
When TEB visited our house, Braden was asleep but both my wife and I were still up. My wife suggested several hiding spots to TEB, such as a hallway closet, but I told him they weren’t good enough. The basket needed to go somewhere it was going to take a lot of time and effort for him to find.
My main reasoning for this was because I remember many times as a kid putting a lot of effort into finding Easter baskets. I almost had as much fun finding them as I did eating the candy that was in them. Almost, because it’s hard to diminish the power of candy that much.
At my grandparents’ house one year, I remember spending what seemed like hours finding a basket they hid outside for me. They lived on a farm, so they had plenty of spots to choose from, including multiple animal buildings. Ultimately, I found it on top of a hay elevator going to the second story of the chicken barn, a location that wasn’t easy to reach.
I also found baskets in the washer, well hidden in closets and in nooks in the house I never knew existed until I found a basket in them.
TEB, my wife and I really wanted Braden to have the same memories. After rejecting my wife’s suggestions, I recommended one everyone thought would work – between the two shower curtains on the bathtub sill. We figured he would look in the bathtub, and not between the two curtains, and then move on to other locations when he didn’t see it.
I was so convinced he would miss the basket on his initial look in the bathtub that I came up with clues and ways I could help him with the search when he became frustrated. I was ready to have some fun with this.
When Braden got up, it didn’t even dawn on him he had to search for his basket. He wanted some cereal and milk, and the opportunity to watch a great movie I had rented for him, “The Iron Giant.” I didn’t remind him, as I wanted to see how long it took him to remember on his own. An hour and a half later, as “The Iron Giant” was ending, it suddenly occurred to him he had an Easter basket he needed to find.
My wife and I told him he needed to find the eggs of candy hidden throughout the house before searching for the basket. The eight eggs were hidden in fairly easy locations, but he had a blast finding each one of them.
After finding them, we told him to find the basket. Figuring the first 10 minutes would be fruitless, or should I say candyless, I sat down at the computer, thinking I could do a little work. As I waited for the computer to boot up, I suddenly heard from the bathroom “Oh, I got toys in my basket.” So much for making it difficult, and so much for witnessing the moment of discovery.
Braden was thrilled, even if it wasn’t as fun for me as I hoped it would be. I guess that’s all that matters, but given that I no longer get to search for baskets – at 34 I’m probably too old – it was up to him to provide me with a little fun.
I felt better when one of my co-workers at The Gazette told me he once took a shower in a bathtub containing an Easter basket. Needless to say, the basket got a little wet and the kid hoping to find the basket was mighty disappointed. That kid’s disappointment was at a level mine from this Easter couldn’t even laughably approach.
Plus, there is still hope Braden might get stumped, yet. We have to go to my mother’s house for Easter soon, so maybe his grandparents will find a hay elevator to keep him busy. I can only hope.