Is the Easter Tradition of Egg Decorating Worth the Trouble?

Almost every year, the idea of egg decorating on Easter was such an excitement. I would bug my mom constantly - "Can we decorate eggs now? How about now?! Pleeeeaaaasseee?' By the time we got around to decorating the eggs, it was a huge dissapointment. I'm thankful for the opportunity but I will not make it a tradition in my house. Here's why decorating eggs on Easter is just a waste.

 

 

It's a Mess and a Half

I recall that my mom would always buy several boxes because some had special stickers, others had special crayons and others had unique colors. We would have at least 7 different colors to make... That's means 7 cups, spread out on the table. Not only is that 7 cups to scrub later, but with little kids trying to stretch across the table to reach the color they want, things get knocked over, hands get messy and clothing gets stained. Of course, the children are all about the tradition until it's cleanup time, am I right? Then it's mom and dad's responsibility (or big sister's, in my case) to clean up the mess. And for what...

 

The Eggs Never Turn Out Right

Decorating eggs is just like eating fast food. It sounds good, it looks good on TV and in photos but once you're actually doing it, you realize it's just not what everyone makes it out to be. Just as your Big Mac's never as big as the one on TV, your eggs are never as pretty as the ones on the box. Even when I was younger, I can remember getting so frustated that none of my eggs were how I wanted them to be. As a teenager, I remember decorating with my younger siblings and hearing one of them say "How come mines doesn't wook wike da one on da box?" She was genuinely sad about it and I felt terrible! From my experience, I think kids actually like the idea of decorating eggs much more than the actual process - or the actual outcome.

 

What a Waste of Eggs...

I know, I know. So what if we waste eggs, there's more at the store, right? I have a serious problem with our constant willingness to waste perfectly good food so making 24 eggs, knowing nobody will eat them all? That seems very silly. I know so many times, my mom and sister and I would say we were excited to eat the boiled eggs after they were decorated but after 3 or so, they just get old (literally). Come on, who's going to eat 2 dozen eggs? Ain't nobody got time for that.