Plastic Easter eggs trump the real thing

I’m thankful for plastic eggs.

You know the ones I’m talking about – the little eggs you can buy at the store and hide during your annual Easter egg hunt.

I’m looking forward to doing exactly that on Easter with our boys.

But hiding Easter eggs (when plastic is not involved) has not always been great fun.

When I was a teenager, and even later as a young adult, my brother and I became pretty darn good at hiding Easter eggs. And these hunts were not for the weak, we really hid them.

The biggest problem is that we didn’t always find them all. Sometimes, even the hiders forgot where they were.

So, inevitably, six months later while pulling weeds or mowing the lawn, we’d find one. And, if it wasn’t plastic, that meant it was a real egg.

That also meant it smelled like a real egg that had been sitting outside for six months. You’ve probably experienced this yourself.

And, for kids, one great upside of the plastic egg is this: chocolate candy inside that plastic egg beats an actual egg every time.

So, with that cautionary tale, you may want to get some plastic eggs this year. Or you may want to chance it.

But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you find (and smell) that egg in late September.

• An editor by day, Scott Mayes is also dad to Matthew, Micah and Nathan. He’s a high school parent, a youth soccer dad and has a toddler who gets into everything.