What is the Easter Tradition:

MG: “Part of  the easter tradition is we used to do a scavenger hunt in the backyard with the traditional fake eggs. Then we’d go into the house and I put little signs from the easter bunny to look all over the house. I’d have little things hidden I thought the kids would like that weren’t too expensive, I’d usually go to Walgreens. I’d get coloring books and crayons, jumpropes, like a plastic bat and ball for Justin, things for the sand box. Oh! Also stuff I didn’t normally give you all the time, doritos and I got your brother that really sugary soda he used to always want. At each new spot there would be a little present and another note from the easter bunny telling you where to look next. The very last note always had a big easter basket with lots of candy, chocolate, peeps, stuff like that.

Where did you learn this tradition?

MG: “From Mandy the babysitter. She told me her families tradition, told me it was a part of their family and explained how to do it.

Why did you start doing it:

MG: “I just wanted to establish our own family traditions”

I thought this was an interesting example of folklore because it was passed from someone younger to someone older, which is opposite of how many people think folklore is spread. In this case Mandy, the younger babysitter, taught my mom her families tradition. It shows that as long as folklore is compelling and coming from a trustworthy source, it does not have to come from a person of great influence or power, like a parent telling a child.

MG’s response of why she started doing it was intriguing because she said she “wanted to establish [her] own family traditions” even though it was borrowing from another families traditions. Even though it wasn’t a unique practice, it was unique and new to her because no one in her family had ever done it. Therefore it was still considered a “new” and “unique” tradition even though it had been borrowed from another family.