Egg-Stravagant Prices: Easter baskets have become too extravagant, people should not be spending large amounts of money on them

The week before Easter I was scrolling through my Instagram feed when every single video I came across was a mom making super expensive Easter baskets for their kids: luxury perfumes, $50 gift cards, pricey makeup, electronics and Stanley cups.

What happened to my childhood favorite — candy eggs?

Easter isn’t a holiday where you should be spending large amounts of money on products that won’t be put to good use. Easter celebrations used to consist of plastic pastel-colored eggs filled with candy, but now it seems like an excuse for parents to spend outrageous amounts of money on their children.

On the flip side, there are some videos of moms reusing their toys and just putting them in a basket. They were spreading the message that Easter doesn’t have to be a huge money-spending occasion, and it is a waste to buy an assortment of expensive items. Anyway, most Easter-themed toys end up being donated after being played with no more than a few times.

However, the majority of Easter-related social media is not spreading a realistic message. In reality, most people don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on each of their child’s Easter gifts.

I get it if you want to spoil your kids on holidays, but to me, Easter isn’t the right occasion for that. Most kids grew up getting small gifts from the Easter Bunny. 

Now, the expensive baskets I’ve been seeing are for older teens. I completely understand not giving your 15-year-old Paw Patrol figurines and a board book. I think that Easter baskets for older kids should be useful, but not $300 worth of random stuff they probably already own. Go for $10 gift cards to their favorite restaurant or hygiene products they need a restock of. 

For younger kids, get cheap toys or fun workbooks. They won’t know the price difference, and kids usually lose toys after a week of having them.

Some could argue that they don’t want their kids to have copious amounts of candy, but an alternative could be getting them healthy snacks they like fruit snacks, fun-shaped crackers and tasty drinks.

Easter isn’t a holiday where you should be spending large amounts of money on things that won’t be put to good use. 

Next year, let’s tone down the priciness of Easter baskets and replace them with fun but still practical gifts that don’t cost as much.