Choose Your Own Parenting Adventure -- Chocolate Egg Edition

You take your two children (ages 4 and 6) to the store and watch them closely as they attempt to run in separate directions. You let them play for a while with the toys in the toy section as a trade off for letting you accomplish your in-store tasks afterwards.

With your items in hand, you herd your children towards the checkouts. Suddenly, your 4 year old grabs a Kindersurprise chocolate egg and squishes it. Whether this is a desperate attempt to get you to buy it or whether he's trying to free the toy inside is irrelevant -- the chocolate egg has been significantly squished.


If you decide to ignore the fact that he's rendered the chocolate egg unsaleable, put the chocolate egg back on the stand.

If you decide that damaged goods must be paid for, take the chocolate egg to the checkout and pay $1.


As you approach the vehicle you tell your son that in no way does this mean he gets the egg and the toy hidden inside it. However, before you have a chance to make the egg "disappear", your husband has opened the egg. He divides the chocolate egg amongst your 6 year old, the two of you and, in an act of mercy, your 4 year old son. Again you remind your son that the toy will not be his so as not to encourage this chocolate egg squishing behaviour in the future.

If you decide the toy from inside the egg should go to no one, take it home and hide it.

If you decide the toy from inside the egg should go to your 6 year old daughter who was not involved in the crime, pass it to her.


Upon arrival at home and finding out that the toy is clearly not his, your 4 year old has a massive temper tantrum. You realize that he has not been satiated by the sliver of chocolate. It's as if the little plastic bug with velcro on its underside so you can stick it to people's shirts is THE BEST TOY EVER.

If you decide that he is being unreasonably greedy, stick him in his room and shut the door to drown out his screams.

If you decide that he is over-tired, hug him and sing "The Old Rugged Cross" loudly to drown out his screams and help calm you him down.


This was in fact how we spent our evening a couple days ago. In case you didn't already figure it out the second choice was the one I made each time.

Elijah did not calm down till Desiree put an alternate little toy inside the internal plastic egg and gave it to him so he could pretend it was a real chocolate egg toy. I allowed her to do this because 1. he calmed down and 2. it was such a sweet thing for her to do for her brother.

I'm wondering if Elijah has come away from this experience having learned anything... If not, I guess I'll spend my days eating squished chocolate eggs and singing "The Old Rugged Cross"...

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~