Column: Easter eggs and life lessons

Easter. Walk into any Italian supermarket and you can't miss it. Literal. When you enter, you will immediately come across the 'chocolate Easter eggs' department. A department that, as the name suggests, is filled with Easter eggs. Lots of Easter eggs. And especially super-sized Easter eggs. Because they are big. Especially if you are used to the Dutch dimensions: a lot of Dutch chocolate eggs fit in an average Italian egg.

Cheerful colored eggs

All those eggs are neatly displayed in large racks. Cheerfully packed in various colors of aluminum paper. And each with its own theme. Eggs for boys. Eggs for girls. Eggs for him. And of course also for her. Eggs from popular television series. Eggs from the cartoon of the moment. Eggs from the toy manufacturer who also wants to get their share. And even eggs from the famous football clubs. You can not think of it so crazy that there is an egg of it.

Eggs full of promises

And it's not just about the egg or the fun colored packaging. New! It's about the contents of the egg. Because actually such an egg is just a giga-surprise egg. An egg with a surprise. Every Easter egg manufacturer hides small gifts in it that more or less have to do with the theme of the egg. You can admire the possible presents on the card attached to the egg, but which one is in the egg remains a surprise.

Children's paradise

A few years ago, before Easter was 'a quick shopping' with the children. Therefore almost impossible. Because all those eggs together form a true children's paradise. An Easter egg mecca full of chocolate and presents. And such a place full of promises should be explored at your leisure. Mouth watering at the chocolate, you marvel at all possible presents and think about which egg and its contents you place your hopes on. And dream about playing with that one present for a long time.

High-tension expectations and disappointments

With every Easter egg that they received from neighbors, friends or family, the tension increased, especially if the desired egg was also on the cupboard in the living room. And they waited with difficulty for the Great Moment after the Easter lunch. That almost standard turned into the Great Disappointment after breaking open the eggs. As an adult I can safely say that the surprises in real life can be quite disappointing.

It is not surprising that it is a downer for a child if what appears in the distance resembles the promise of the picture. For the form, we then played with what emerged. After which the surprise disappeared in a corner somewhere and we all had more fun with the mountains of chocolate that we finally had just before Christmas than the children with their surprises.

Easter Egg Life Lessons

Today shopping is around Easter peanuts. The adolescents no longer get hot or cold from everything that is displayed. In the Easter egg department we see the little ones with excited faces, pointing at all the eggs they like. And then suddenly a swallow moment follows. 'It's really sad, isn't it, Mom,' says one of the two, looking at the grub walking around, 'They don't know yet that this, that anticipation, is the best part of the whole egg.' Life lessons in an Easter egg. That's surprising.