This Little Gal Hates That Big Bunny

Easter 2013 - My four kids with Ellie

She likes dressing up in fancy new Easter outfits.

She loves searching throughout the house for those hidden Easter eggs.

She gets very excited to receive baskets of Easter goodies.

She especially loves eating all that Easter candy.

But...

She hates the big bunny.

She hated him last year, and she still hates him this year.

In fact, she wants to be carried away in a very WIDE circle around him.

Granddaughter Ellie does NOT like the Easter bunny, and wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

This past Saturday, at the family business' retail store, Tom Sturgis Pretzels, the Easter bunny arrived at 11 AM to visit with the kiddies for three hours.

Ready for the bunny's arrival

Daughter Lindsay (Ellie's mother) works in the pretzel store, and had arranged for Ellie to be brought in  prior to 11:00.  Our plan was to dispel Ellie's fear by letting her watch the gal who was playing the part of the bunny as she suited up in her bunny costume.

Our plan failed.

Lindsay at the register

Ellie was OK when offered a basket of treats by one of the other employees.

She was even more OK when she dug into the basket and found all sorts of little surprises hidden among the eggs.  

However, she was NOT OK being anywhere around the bunny suit, the bunny, or even that chair with the bunny sitting on it.

She and I parked ourselves on a DIFFERENT chair WAY across the store where we could SAFELY keep an eye on that big furry rodent.  We watched as lots of children came in and sat on the bunny's lap.  Pictures were taken and each child got an egg with a prize in it afterwards.

No matter.  Ellie wasn't going anywhere near that rabbit.  She was glued safely and securely to my lap.  In fact, she darn nearly rubbed a whole in the  back of my shoulder with her little hand, which is what she typically does when she is terrified.

Oh well, maybe another year.  I see no sense in forcing children to do something they are terrified to do.

We did make progress, though.  After about an hour, Ellie gave one funny little wave to the bunny.

And then she wanted to go home.