Dear Crabby, Is the Easter Bunny an Essential Employee?

Dear Crabby,

Ever since this pandemic started, our lives (and everyone else) have been turned upside down. In the midst of getting everything together to homeschool (!), I just looked at the calendar and realized this Sunday is Easter! Can we still have Easter or is now the time I fess up to the kids that my husband and I are the Easter Bunny?

Thanks!
Josephine Cottontail

Dear Josephine Cottontail,

Ahh, yes. Right about now your inbox and Facebook feed should be flooded with ads for sales on Easter attire, chocolates and candy, all the fixins’ for a fancy dinner, and where to find the biggest and best Easter egg hunt around town. But this is 2020. A year that so far feels like an elaborate prank that just won’t end. While some would say in the great scheme of things, worrying about Easter is trivial, I disagree. While keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe should be the top priority, it doesn’t mean we should completely ignore holidays and other important life moments. Even the British and Germans set aside fighting during World War I to observe Christmas Eve. And just like then, Easter will look different this year, but it can still be celebrated.

If you have a nice backyard, host your own Easter egg hunt. Just remember it should only include members of your family. Have your kids haul out the sidewalk chalk and draw pictures or encouraging words on your driveway. Heck. Teach your kids how to play hopscotch. If you usually go to church, followed by a fancy dinner, then get dressed up and have it. There’s also nothing wrong with setting up your eats buffet style and grazing all day. And I know y’all have fancy tech gizmos, so figure out how to connect with the family members you’d normally see on Easter. Just because you can’t physically be with them doesn’t mean you can’t still spend time with them. As for your question about the Easter Bunny… well, whether or not you feel it’s time to shatter your children’s childhood is up to you, but I have an alternative suggestion. You can tell your kids that the Easter Bunny is an essential employee.

As you know, it’s been all over the news that only essential employees are supposed to still be out in the public. Wonderful folks in all areas of health care, first responders, food and agriculture business, and many more. Now some might say it’s irresponsible to equate the Easter Bunny with these fine folks. To them, I say ‘hogwash!’ Those folks have clearly forgotten what it’s like to be a child or what it is like to be a child during a scary time like World War II or 9/11. Sometimes, comfort and consistency it what is needed when everything around you seems to be coming apart. Even the Prime Minister of New Zealand agrees with me. Just explain to your children that the Easter Bunny is doing his best during this difficult time trying to take care of his family and all the other families like yours. So maybe the Easter baskets aren’t ridiculously over-the-top this year. Would that be so awful? Get creative and say the Easter Bunny left an IOU for a fun outing when we can all go out again. Or download a new movie or book to your kid’s devices. It is going to be OK and we’re all going to get through this.

As for me, if we’re going to be stuck inside because of a pandemic, there’s no better time to be in my favorite La-Z-Boy sporting my best Easter pajamas and watching the cinematic classic The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. Bunny slippers are optional.

Dear Crabby