How to Sneak Downstairs Early to See Your Easter Basket

You have a hunch that you're getting one of the best Easter baskets ever this year. Unfortunately, you just can't wait until your basket opening time to see what candy and other things you got. If you want to sneak downstairs early in the...

Surveying Your Route

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Take a quick walk around the house. Where are the Easter baskets typically placed when you wake up? This will help you plan your route. You also need to take note of where the floors creak, so you can plan your route to avoid these places.
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Create a map. This should be a map of the main floor of your house, your bedroom, and the stairs (if there are any). Plan your route, and don't forget to mark areas where the floors creak. This could be the difference between being caught and not being caught.
1. If there is a possibility that your basket could be in multiple different areas, write separate codes for each area they could be. For example, if your basket could either be in the living room, the dining room, or on the porch, write "Code Cupcake" or "Code Ice Cream" for each one.
  1. You don't have to use these specific codes. They can be as simple as color names or as complex as your pets' names!
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Get a notebook to take notes with. Whenever you search for holiday presents, you need a notebook to take notes on any clues or items you find. For example, if you see a basket on the porch with your name written on it, then you can be sure to keep an eye out for anything placed in that basket.
1. Using a full-size notebook isn't necessarily a good idea for this step. Use a portable, smaller notebook or even simply the Notes app on your phone would work best.
2. You will want to jot down some info once you have fully surveyed your route. If you have a pet such as a dog or a loud bird, try to avoid their cage, crate, or wherever they tend to be at night. You could arouse them, and that is not good if they are especially loud.

Preparing For Your Journey

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Decide what time you will wake up to do this. Since you will be doing this the day of Easter, you should probably do this in the middle of the night. A good time to do this would be around 2-4am. However, there are some exceptions to this guideline.
1. If your parents often wake up in the middle of the night, plan around their usual waking time so you don't get caught in the middle of your act. If this is the case for you, wake up at around 5am.
2. If your parents are light sleepers, do this before 4am but after 1am. In other words, do it around 2-3am because they will be in the deepest stage of sleep.
3. It may be helpful to stay awake for most of a night before Easter to see if and when your parents tend to wake up at night. This will help you create your game plan accordingly.
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Practice your journey in the days leading up to Easter. Just like dancers practice their routine constantly in the days before their recital, you need to be practicing most of the time before Easter. You can practice as little or as much as you think is okay.
1. Aim to practice this when it is dark outside. This way, you can get accustomed to walking this area in the middle of the night. Try to walk as silently as possible, so you don't wake up your parents.
2. Make sure you practice when your parents aren't looking to avoid raising suspicion.
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Find your thickest pair of socks. You need to walk almost completely silently when you complete your journey, so in order to do that, you need to find the thickest pair of socks you own. They may not be the most comfortable, but they are practical for your situation.
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Pack a bag to bring with you. If you carry everything by hand, you will likely drop something, and that would be loud. You're better off carrying your supplies in a bag.
1. That said, you won't need much in the 20-some minutes you will be out of bed, so don't bring a giant rolling bag. Instead, opt for a small duffel bag or backpack to carry your items.
2. In your bag, you should have your thick socks, your notebook, a pen, and your phone. If you don't think you will be able to complete your plan, bring a small pillow and blanket just in case you need to set up camp in your living room.
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Pretend to be tired when you go to bed that night. This will lessen any suspicion that may have accumulated while you were practicing, as your parents and siblings will not think you will get up in the middle of then night.
Set an alarm for yourself to wake up during the night. You probably won't be able to wake up in the middle of the night all by yourself, so set a quiet alarm for yourself at the times specified earlier in this method. Just make sure your alarm isn't so loud that it will wake your parents and siblings, too.

Carrying Out Your Plan

Stay in bed for a few minutes after you wake up. If you accidentally made your alarm too loud and it disturbed your parents, waiting about 30 minutes to an hour to actually go to your Easter basket will give your parents a chance to fall back asleep so you can get out of bed without being caught.
1. If your parents come into your room to check on you, make sure you pretend to be asleep.
Quietly get out of your bed. If your mattress makes noise when pressure is put on certain areas, try to avoid those areas so you get out of bed silently.
Put on your thick socks. These should be in your bag, but as always, try to do this silently.
Quietly walk to where your Easter basket is. It will probably be either in your living room or dining room. Look in multiple places, as your parents could have hidden it in an unorthodox place to keep you from seeing it too early.
Take notes of what's inside the basket. Get your notebook out of your bag, as well as your pen. Write down a quick bulleted list of what's inside your basket. If your parents set up an Easter egg hunt around the house for you, you could also check what's in each egg.
Sketch out your basket in your notebook. You don't have to go into too much detail, but a quick layout of your basket is helpful.
Take a picture of the basket using your phone. Now, you will need to actually look through your basket to see if there's anything you missed in your list of items. This picture will help you put the basket back once you are done.
Look through the basket and see if you missed anything on your list. Don't forget to check the bottom of the basket, because the best items in the basket are often at the very bottom.
Put the basket back exactly as it was. Using your photo, make the basket look like you never touched it or tampered with it. It will look like you were never there in the first place.
Quietly go back to your room and try to go back to sleep. Even though you may be excited for Easter, you still need to get your last few hours of sleep! Try to count sheep or think about all the candy and other things you're getting.