The guests have left. The Girl has fallen asleep behind me.

Certainly it’s exhaustion from yesterday’s activities: with two girls her age arriving in the early afternoon, the Girl was a bundle of hyperactivity.

“We’re going to run there and here and there and here!” L proclaimed just before the girl’s arrival.

After eating an enormous lunch, that’s just what they did as they searched for eggs.

The younger girls were overwhelmed with excitement each and every time they found an egg. Their joy was a lovely thing, but it meant that the older children had more time to find eggs: they were very utilitarian in their celebrations, whooping on their way to the next egg instead of stopping to show off their discoveries.

Slow and steady might win the race in parables, but in the cut-throat reality of an Easter egg hunt, slow and steady wins only a light basket.

Often, though, the younger girls trailed behind the older children, following in almost lock-step.

“Honey, why don’t you look in different places rather than following her?” I asked L. “You’re just going to find the places where she’s already found the eggs.”

She thought about if for a moment, then continued with her method.

Still, despite the age difference, the little ones found several eggs, often simultaneously.;j

But the prize, the big egg, the egg L had been excited about all weekend, the egg that L proclaimed she simply must have — well, too much celebration for life’s little successes can give time for others to search out the big surprises.

And as I anticipated, it left poor L devastated. She stopped her own search and sat down for some sad alone time (also known as pouting).

But all was soon well. L’s disappointments rarely last longer than a few minutes, especially when the “offending” party shows some sympathy.

Unless I am the offending party — then the grudge lasts a few minutes longer.