How Old Is Too Old To Participate in Easter Activities?

I have lived in the DC area for several years and around springtime, I always have one heck of a pity party because I have never been able to get tickets for the White House Easter Egg Roll. In prior years, we witnessed lines for days only to get turned around and my youngest son asking me, "But why?" This year, the tickets were given away online and although I couldn't see the long line in cyberspace, I still couldn't get through. My son, who is ten (the oldest wanted to attend just to see the Obamas), was upset that I couldn't get the tickets. Again.

"This may be my last year to celebrate Easter," he said to me when I came home from work that evening.

"Why? You're only ten, next year you can get tickets," I answered, scrambling to fix dinner at the same time.

"Mom, you know the website said for 'kids up to age ten only'," he explained. He walked away.

It finally hit me. My kids are growing up! Hooray! Oh, sorry, was having a moment there. I did feel a little guilty about not getting those tickets again, but, I did take him to an event to celebrate Easter activities for kids.

The National Zoo, home of the Panda in the historic Woodley Park in Washington DC, had a wonderful event for us to attend. The zoo is not far from my job, so it was easy to get to, being Metro accessible and all. I took him to the Annual Easter Monday: Celebrating the African-American Family event. Glad I went early!

The event started at 10:00am. Sponsored by radio station WHUR 96.3 FM, my son participated in an Easter egg hunt where he and a bunch of other age eleven and under kids were scrambling for wooden eggs. At the end of let's say, five minutes, they had to go to a table and trade in their eggs for prizes. My son picked out a soccer ball keychain to match his soccer ball themed basket.

He played games such as beanbag toss in the meerkat's mouth, ring toss on the flamingo's beak, and Frisbee toss in another kind of mammal's mouth (sorry, I don't remember). There was a man dressed up as the zoo's traditional panda, sitting and waving inside of an Easter egg shaped bubble. People snapped pictures, even yours truly.

Watching my son act a little shy when it came time to create a crafty bag so he could receive candy gave me the uh-oh chills. I thought, "He just might be growing out of this." But then when I glanced around the table spread with glues, pictures, festive decals and markers, I realized there were a host of parents with toddlers and kindergartners providing assistance with their bags. My son did make a bag after I explained to him that he wouldn't receive candy if he didn't. I even helped by writing his name in 80's graffiti style!

The Hoola-Hoop contest he did not participate in, although I did see boys wanting to win the prize. I looked over at my son who shook his head, "No way Mom." Okay, maybe five years ago he would have won this competition.

After exhausting the events and noticing a semi-large crowd, we decided to leave. What was priceless about this outing was hearing my son say, "Mom, I can't wait to come back next year."

I smiled as I snapped a picture of him standing proudly near the sign that read, "Easter Monday: Celebrating the African-American Family."

Perhaps we are all never too old to participate in Easter activities.