Easter - to commercialize, or not?

Yesterday was Jocey's second Easter with us. We didn't do an Easter basket for her again this year. I have been in the grocery store the last 3 weekends, marveling at what we have done to Easter. There are TWO whole isles dedicated to candy, prizes, stuffed animals, decorations, you name it. And it's been iritating to me this year more than most. Since we've become parents, I've often thought about what we should do and how we should celebrate certain holidays (namely Christmas and Easter). These are sacred holidays that I feel the world has demoralized. I would rather my daughter understand the meaning behind the holidays than stuff herself full of sugar and be upset that Santa and the Easter Bunny didn't get her what she wanted.

Sometimes I think I'm not letting my daughter experience childhood. But then, I have a few friends that do the same thing - their children know that these two holidays aren't about the Easter Bunny and Santa and "GIMME GIMME GIMME!" Don't get me wrong, I think it's totally fine to do Easter baskets and egg hunts, presents on Christmas morning. But what are the meanings behind these holidays? That's what I want her to know first and foremost.

Here's a few facts about Easter, just in case you'd like to know:
1. Easter marks the end of Lent, a "fast" for 40 days in which Christians give up one thing for the entire 40 days.
2. The name "Easter" refers to the Eostur-monath, a month of the Germanic calendar which was named for the goddess Eastre in Germanic paganism.
3. Why does the date of Easter change? Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar, as is the Hebrew calendar.
4. In Russian the greeting that they give each other on Easter translates as "Christ has risen!" - "Kristos Voskres!"
5. In the United States, there have been instances where public mention of Easter and Good Friday have been replaced with euphemistic terminology. Examples include renaming "Good Friday" as "Spring holiday" on school calendars, to avoid association with a Christian holiday while at the same time allowing a state-sanctioned day off.

So, I am still stumped. To commercialize or not, that is the question. Either way, here are a few pictures from our Easter weekend. Jocey had fun in an Easter Egg Hunt that my sister-in-law did for her kids and Jocey.