I wrote a blog about this today. I do indeed buy my children candy and we dye eggs. Jesus was a man who children ran to. Children don't run toward sourpuss holier than thou old men. They run to those who know how to smile and have fun. What Jesus did for us is quite serious but also a cause for joy. His death bought our lives; that is cause for reflection and for a joyous shout of praise. Jesus gave us bunnies, lambs, adorable little chicks and yes even eggs those things did not come from the world. They are used by the world and become material things only if we let them and only if we cease to appreciate the origins of them. These things remind us of the new life Jesus death brings to us. The beautiful spring colors we dye the eggs with remind us that he loved us enough to create for us a world of colors. Candies were created using the intellect that God gave us to give pleasure to our taste buds. I see no harm in my children celebrating the joyful resurrection of our Lord with things that bring them joy. I see no harm as long as we keep Jesus first and remind them of the origins of all these good things. If a Christian child sees the Easter baskets, bunnies, candy etc and that's all they know of Easter than their parents have failed them. It's not the fault of the things it's the fault of the parents.

I was the same way. growing up, even though I knew Jesus (I have been in Catholic school my whole life) I always looked forward to the candy and bunnies. I never really understood his Passion, though i knew he died on a cross for us. It didn't hit me until my parents & grandparents stopped buying me candy (7th grade) about the true meaning, and i wasn't even emotionally affected until i entered high school. Now, as a present Junior in a Catholic high school, and have seen the Passion of The Christ for the first time 2 weeks ago, I am now greatly emotionally affected. I watched a YouTube video yesterday with Brian Littrell's song "Wish" with Passion scenes and i just broke down crying and thanking Jesus for enduring so much just for me. I think there is age-appropriate meanings for Easter. I would not have been able to understand everything I know now at 5 years old. I think cutting off the candy at the right age and telling them the real meaning of easter is a better transition. if i do have kids one day, i would tell them about the real meaning gradually as they get older, but i think that a child can truly understand the real meaning at 12 or 13, and from then on seeing easter as a time of Jesus and his love for us, and not candy, bunnies, and eggs 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to
everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the
Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I
myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I
became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law
but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak,
to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all
possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that
I may share in its blessings.

"That's not to say I wasn't one of them at some point. There were times
when I looked forward to Easter because of the baskets my parents
always gave me -- and the weeks that followed when I'd keep the grass
because it made me feel happy."

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will
be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Be careful with your words because God will hold you to the same standard you hold others too.  If you judge others for integrating worldly things into Easter, God might look in a separate part of your life where you too might mixed world and Christ.

@CitizenDon@xanga - Thanks

Okay. The egg/bunny thing started because they're symbols of springtime fertility. You're not supposed to extrapolate and assume that the bunnies are HATCHING from the eggs. Hence why there are also, um, baby chicks?

"What is the first thing that most people think about when they hear the
word 'Easter?'"

"Easter" is another moniker for Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod. The idea of an observance in her name was her idea, as was a 40-day period leading up to it (which was called "Lent" just as it's called today). The reality of Easter is in it's name itself, so it's a wonder that people are still falling for it.

First of all I want to congratulate everyone here because they are demonstrating some sense of a spiritual self. This is extremely important in this ever so deteriorating society where morals and values are becoming a thing of the past.  I encourage everyone to continually keep reading the bible daily and keep on seeking the true knowledge of Jehovah and Jesus.

So what's the connection between Easter and Jesus? Let's look at the facts;
In the book The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, we read: “What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, . . . as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar. . . . Such is the history of Easter. The popular observances that still attend the period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now.”—(New York, 1943), pp. 103, 107, 108; compare Jeremiah 7:18.

So as we see, the name Easter is far from Christian. Easter is just another name for Ishtar or Astarte, a sky god who was worshipped  by many peoples such as the Babylonians and Carthaginians who inherited the Canaanite religion from their Phoenician forefathers. Astarte was connected with fertility, sex and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Wow, shocking isn't it?  Let's keep in mind that Easter is associated with Jesus ressurection...should it be? What would Jesus say today if he saw his "followers" associating his death with a Pagan goddess of sexuality?

Let's look at another fact. Nowhere in the New Testament is there any indication that Christians observed the Easter festival because the custom of the Easter season are not Christian.
Another fact can be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia where it says: “A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. . . . The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”—(1913), Vol. V, p. 227.

Everyone here obviously agrees that what Jesus did for us was selfless and of a great importance to mankind's future hope.  Jesus died on the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan (March-April), 33 C.E. Before his death he had instructed his Apostoles to:

“Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”—Luke 22:19.  He instituted the Lord’s Evening Meal on Nisan 14, the evening of the Passover, which the Israelites celebrated annually, it is evident that Jesus intended the Memorial to be commemorated in the same way. Whereas the Israelites annually celebrated their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, Christians annually commemorate their deliverance from bondage to sin and death.—Exodus 12:11, 17; Romans 5:20, 21. 

This date is the most important day of the year for a Christian. Not his birth but his death. It's sad to see "christians" neglect this day and focus solely on what they think was his birthday. Anyways that's a whole different topic and for now i will stick to Jesus and Easter.

Alright so what should Christians celebrate then? As was stated earlier, it's his death. Jesus specifically commanded us to keep celebrating his death and that is why every year millions of Christians attend the commemoration of Jesus death. You too can be a part of this by just talking to any Jehovah's Witness for more details.