Bunnies, Baskets and other B words...

Late Saturday night, the Easter Bunny paid a visit to us.  EB (as his friends call him) hopped on through Worcester and left three baskets here for the kids.  Gigi's basket remains unopened until she arrives in June, but Lex & Loki made short work of their baskets.  Easter grass is still strewn around the house and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed their gifts.  Lex got a new cartridge for his Leapster 2 and Loki got a drum set.


Lex and his Leapster 2 are inseparable.  If Leapfrog ever offers a cybernetic implant (Leapborg?  Leapjack?  Leapdroid?) Lex will be the first toddler in line.  His latest cartridges are Creature Create and Finding Nemo. The Leapster 2 is great because it tracks his progress and highlights his strengths and areas of improvement.  


From before she could sit up, Loki has shown great interest in percussion.  Put anything in her hand and she'll bang it against something.  Give her a bowl and she'll turn into a drum.  EB must have known this, because he obliged her with her own drum set.  Loki has taken to her drum set-she loves to bang away.  We're trying to teach her to bang her sticks over her head before she starts to play.  Having been told by my elementary school music teacher that it was a waste of his time to continue to teach me, it makes me happy to think that Loki may have an aptitude for the drums.  If she has the desire to play, we will support that decision-even if it means loud practice sessions in the house.


As I mentioned, Gigi's basket remains unopened, but she did inquire what she got.  We don't tell her, opting to leave it a surprise.  When she did call Easter morning, she was audibly upset and I asked her what was wrong.  Gigi's mother had yelled at her because Gigi received a basket here in Massachusetts.  Huh?!?  Yes, you read that right.  Gigi got yelled at because EB brought her a basket.  But why you ask?  Why should it matter?


I can only speculate, but I believe this can all be blamed on that evil man Santa Claus.  Gigi spends every Christmas with us and when she is here for Christmas, Santa brings her presents here.  For some reason, he conveniently doesn't leave any presents for her in Wisconsin because, well, I guess he's trying to cut costs?  He leaves presents for Gigi's half-sister and pseudo-step-siblings so it's not like he doesn't stop there; Gigi doesn't get anything from Santa (or for that matter from her mother for the last 2 years, but thats a completely separate post).  As Gigi gets older and certain truths become evident, I can only speculate that her mother is realizing that Gigi is going to remember that EB made it a priority to ensure that she received a basket at both her homes and that Santa only left her presents in Massachusetts.


It's sad that in attempt to save a few bucks, my ex is going to end up spoiling what should be a treasured childhood memory.