Treats, but no candy

I was a pretty strict mother about nutrition, who did not give my kids candy in their Easter Baskets. My "kids" are now 30 and 34 and neither one of them have a sweet tooth. While I did not encourage sweets nor provide sweets, neither did I make them forbidden completely ... it was fine if a friend offered, or if there were sweets at school functions, etc. But both took it for granted that a sweet was an occasional treat, not an everyday or expected occurrence, even at holidays.

So what DID go in the baskets? (Which didn't stop until they were both in their twenties, by the way...)

Small games and card games

Simple art supplies

Jacks and a ball

Small action figures

Small cars and trucks

Finger puppets

Play jewelry

Play cosmetics

Bubble bath

Mini slinkies

Paddleballs

Sticker assortments

Childrens movies (at that time they were VHS, now they would be DVD)

Children's music (at that time tape, now they would be CD)

Sunglasses

Water pistols (oh yes, they had big fun with those)

Small dolls, My Little Pony, etc

Stuffed or bendable rabbits or chicks

Granola bars

Trail mix (in a plastic easter egg)

Homemade oatmeal cookies (wrapped up in cello and tied with ribbon)

Coupons for a day with Mom all by themselves instead of with their sibling

Tickets or passes to special events (with Mom of course)

As they grew older, they started getting things like batteries, movie tickets, whatever was age appropriate.

I've asked, and they've told me they never felt like they were getting undesirable baskets. In fact, they loved their baskets because they had things to play with days after everyone else's chocolate rabbits and jelly beans had only succeeded in giving them a stomach ache, after their parents were done scraping them off the ceiling due to the sugar high. And if they DID want a sugary treat, they knew they could get one from a friend .. but it was just never an issue.

Hope this helps!

Sad part is I could not find a single image of Easter Baskets that DIDN'T have tons of sugary candy in it!