For parents, Easter wouldn't be the same without all those colored eggs, fake grass and chocolate rabbits.

Our nation's economy is chugging along. And why not? Store shelves are full of egg decorating kits, plastic eggs, stuffed bunnies and a whole host of other entertaining Easter stuff.

There's plenty of candy to choose from. After all, candy seems to be the common denominator for all American holidays.

As parents, we often feel that holidays were invented by candy-craving children.

Of course, we know better. Holidays were invented by Hallmark Cards.

Our daughters, 6-year-old Becca and 2-year-old Bailey, decorated a dozen eggs this year.

It didn't take long.

Joni and I stood by with paper towels as Becca and Bailey each decorated six eggs.

"Don't pound the eggs," I advised Bailey as she tapped one of the soaking-up-color eggs with a metal spoon.

Dads feel good when they can offer their kids some sound advice that doesn't have to do with baseball.

Naturally, baseball is a great sport. But neither the bat nor glove will help you color Easter eggs.

Becca and Bailey managed to color the eggs without any major spills and without turning their hands into a rainbow of colors.

The minor spills were largely confined to Bailey's side.

I was pleasantly surprised. As a parent, you become used to major spills.

I'm convinced it's a major reason why child-rearing experts favor the two-parent home. It's just easier for both mom and dad to clean up all those spills rather than a single parent.

In this country, we like to celebrate Easter by letting our children race around as they try to grab up all those eggs we've hidden in the house or in the yard.

There are even public Easter egg hunts, which have become something of a mad scramble resembling the Oklahoma land rush.

In fact, I'm sure that those early settlers weren't really looking for land. No doubt, they mistakenly thought that someone had hidden thousands of Easter eggs on the wide open range.

America's presidents have long tried to keep egg off their faces while trying to impersonate the Easter bunny.

Since 1878, children in Washington, D.C., have been invited to roll eggs on the White House lawn.

So far, none of the eggs have been subpoenaed by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

If you can't fathom Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail, then perhaps big, old Barney would be more to your liking.

Barney's first movie is out, just in time for Easter.

Naturally, we took our children to see it the other day. There's nothing like seeing Barney on the big screen.

Becca and Bailey sat through the whole movie without ever once asking for popcorn.

We were late to the show so we didn't stop to buy popcorn and other junk food. But that didn't matter. Bailey's eyes were glued to the large screen.

Who wouldn't be mesmerized by a singing, talking, dancing, purple dinosaur and his friends who chase after a giant Easter egg?

There's nothing like a little song and dance to celebrate the season.

As Jack Nicholson could tell you, sometimes that's as good as it gets.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.