There's not much I can offer parents venturing off into the magical world of public celebrations geared for small children, except for a little advice.

You may not remember, but a few years back we attended our first Easter Egg Hunt.

You know of which I speak? ... The over-planned municipal nightmare wherein at least one child each year isn't able to find a candy-filled plastic orb or isn't able to snatch one up quickly enough before losing it forever to an over-coached neighbors' kid in an unneighborly show of Darwinism?

Lest I say, it was a disaster.

The event turned the cute and cuddly, warm and fuzzy Easter Bunny into a dyed-in-the-wool monster.

Thanks to archiving you can go back for the scene of the crime should you choose.

Now I suppose that since the way of the world seems to be survival of the fittest there's nothing wrong with rules that ensure a competitive hunt. But there seems to be a little something missing in a community feel-good event if tiny tots are left to cry it out when their parents haven't thought ahead enough to strategize tactical maneuvers to ensure tots will actually find one measly little plastic egg.

And we were lucky in that we had a neighbor who willingly shared some of their found treasures. But not all kids have been so fortunate to have such kind and generous neighbors. (Each year I hear new and daunting stories about the egg hunt from hell, as we have begun to think of it).

So my advice to all you trusting folks with sweet little munchkins, who, through no fault of your own (and quite by accident) may find yourself attending one of these bloodthirsty affairs, is simple: Before you pack the kids into the car and head out, fill a few eggs with treats and slip them into your pockets.

Just.

In.

Case.