Hopping down the Bunny Trail

We don't talk up the Easter Bunny much around here, but we do have one boy who is a fan. We discovered that last year. So, with Easter approaching, and at the end of a full week, we decided to get a quick dinner at our favorite mall and visit the rabbit.

I had low expectations for how Michael would handle the experience. After all, our otherwise fearless child is terrified of carousels, large stuffed animals, and actually shrank in fear from a smallish plastic ride-on horse at a friend's house the other day. (This is especially interesting considering his favorite toy at his orphanage was an enormous ride-on Pleasant Goat.)

As we approached the bunny, Louis turned to me and said, "Mama, is he a person in a costume or the real Easter Bunny?" I wasn't sure what to say--and the bunny's fur did look a bit shabby. I suspected that he had heard this at preschool and I was pretty sure he was looking for reassurance rather than dismissal of the experience he had been excited for all day. "I don't know," I said. "What do you think?"

By then Louis had already walked away to climb onto the bunny's lap--and Baba was placing Michael next to him.

So, we have happy Michael--who hasn't really noticed the bunny's huge face yet and Louis trying to decide whether to smile...

...then we have Michael figuring out he might rather be somewhere else and Louis still not smiling much...

 ...and then we have Louis giving the biggest cheese smile he can muster and Michael in a panic because he has just turned around and seen the bunny's eyes right behind him.

Poor Michael. He would have taken a day of six-month post-placement visits with our social worker over this nightmare.

Once Michael got out of the Easter Bunny's lap, he was content, especially when he learned he would get a bendy rabbit for enduring the ordeal.

Michael reached into the basket, grabbed, a yellow one, and backed away. Louis took his time picking just the right one--a rabbit identical to his brother's.

Michael kept a respectful distance.

Louis, on the other hand, without any prompting, gave the bunny a huge hug. He just loves animals, especially stuffed ones--and apparently those that move.

Then Louis gave the bunny a high five. Michael did too, but his mother missed that shot.

Afterward, Michael didn't seem particularly scarred from the experience. And there's not much that can't be cured with food.

It was a big day for our little guy, and this whole Easter thing is a mystery to him. But as he sat watching the water shooting up from the fountain in the center of the mall, he certainly wasn't thinking about our meeting with our social worker this morning or why his brother loves that scary white rabbit so much. He was probably thinking, "Finally they give me some decent pizza."

I hope the Easter Bunny knows our boy may like his eggs, but he loves his candy.