“Mark,

I have chocolate. Find it!

Rabbit.”

This is how I set up the scene.

I was pretty proud of myself.

Mark picked up rabbit.

“Huh?”

“There is Chocolate to find…”

“In the house?”

“Yes!”

“Now?”

“YES!”

Gee. You’d think he had never—… wait. He had never done the Easter egg hunt.

Up to this year, I had never bothered to celebrate Easter because I’m not religious and Feng didn’t grow up with the tradition. Usually, we buy discounted chocolate right after the holiday, that’s it.

Besides, I wasn’t quite sure how to do Easter in Canada. I found the rabbit thing confusing because in France, chocolate is brought by bells. Yes, bells. According to the tradition, church bells are silent for a day before Easter. It’s a sign of mourning but it is explained by saying the bells flew to Rome and return on Easter morning bringing chocolate. I know how strange it sounds but hey, associating chocolate eggs to a rabbit is weird too.

Now that Mark is older, we can embrace yet another tradition. Besides, since we celebrated my birthday, he has been counting down the days to his own birthday which is in October, i.e. a long time from now. “There is cool stuff happening before your birthday,” I comforted him one night. “Like… chocolate day!”

Even if we didn’t celebrate Easter before, I’d always stock up on chocolate in April. Easter and Christmas are the only two times of the year when I can find chocolate I like in stores. As a grownup, I should have developed a taste for healthier, sophisticated, bitter dark chocolate by now, but I’m still stuck at the milk chocolate stage. I’m partial to two brands: Kinder Chocolate and Lindt. Kinder eggs and chocolate bars reminds me of my childhood and I find there is a good chocolate/hazelnut taste ratio. Lindt chocolate is delicious: once the outer layer melts, there is a creamy, slightly colder heart.

I’d sell my own mother for Lindt or Kinder—but she would probably sell me first because chocolate addiction runs in the family.

Unfortunately, I find chocolate sold in Canada is awful. It’s just sugar with a vague cocoa taste, it doesn’t have the rich, milky, chocolaty texture of European confectionery products. Take Cadbury, for instance. Thanks but not thanks (although Cadbury in the UK tastes much better!). Same “meh, just sugar” with Hershey’s. And “chocolate” bars like Coffee Crisp, Caramilk, Aero, etc., just taste like a giant candy.

So I stocked up on Lindt and Kinder mini-eggs and I bought Mark a few bigger surprises as well.

Thirty minutes after the hunt officially started, Mark had found all the treats.

Glad he didn’t stumble upon my own stash, in the basement…