Lessons from Last Weekend’s Most Competitive Sporting Event: The Easter Egg Hunt

Sure, I know it was the first full weekend of the Major League Baseball season.

And I know that National Hockey League teams are fighting for the opportunity to make the playoffs. And yes, there was that little golf tournament over in Augusta called the Masters… but I watched the Friday night news and braced myself for the competition that was to await me on Saturday morning.

According to a national report on ABC News, several communities around the country had canceled their Easter egg hunts because parents had become so disruptive that the event was spoiled. In Colorado Springs, according to the report, last year’s hunt ended quickly and in chaos when some parents, so determined to get their child an egg, had sent their older children racing ahead. That caused the parents of the younger children to then jump the rope, going from spectators to participants. One woman in Macon, Ga., even threatened to sue after being injured in last year’s egg hunt.

As a guy who has enjoyed a life in the sports world, I’ve always envisioned my children would be competitive. So imagine my surprise when my daughter, at last year’s egg hunt, bolted for the first egg in sight… then sat down to break it open to eat the chocolate Kiss inside. The other eggs could wait.

This year would be a little different, I figured. My daughter is now two-and-a-half and her brother is now three-and-a-half. I’ve watched them each become more competitive, at least with each other.

When the starter at the egg hunt yelled “go,” my two tore off into the hay-strewn field along with what seemed like hundreds of others in their age group. My wife and I watched, snapped pictures and laughed at a few of the children, who were so much more competitive than ours that they were sneaking eggs out of other baskets.

Then I saw a moment that made my heart melt. Our little guy, basket filled to overflowing, offered some of his eggs to a couple of children who didn’t “score” as he had.

Oh, to have the heart of a child.

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