The Easter Bunny

Since my son doesn’t watch tv, hang out with other kids, or go to church, he doesn’t know anything about Easter. We weren’t planning on doing any of the traditional Easter stuff with him this year anyway, so we’ll just wait until he’s older. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain the idea of a rabbit that brings chocolate eggs, since he’s still trying to figure out why people eat chicken eggs because isn’t there a baby chicken inside each one? Adding a rabbit and chocolate to the story would really confuse him, so we’re happy to let this holiday pass by quietly.

Today we were at the mall, since it’s one of the few places where my son can run on cold windy days. And of course, there was a big setup with a guy in a bunny costume and kids standing in line waiting to have their parents pay $20 for some pictures (a sign says “no personal cameras allowed”). My son just smiled and gave his usual shy wave when the bunny waved at him and motioned for us to come over. My son said “no thanks, maybe I’ll go see him when I get bigger. I’m shy now.” Which is a much better reaction than he had a few months ago when he was terrified of the mall Santa. So we ran through the mall for awhile, then stopped by the bunny place on the way out so we could wave at him again.

Then this evening as I was tucking him into bed, he said “The bunny at the mall waved at me. It was a pretend bunny, not a real one. Some day I need to go to the mall and dress up like a bunny. Then people can come sit on my lap and get their picture taken. And I’ll smile and wave and make everybody happy.” I have no idea how he figured that all out on his own. Neither my wife or I mentioned that there was a guy in the bunny suit. He’s such a logical and practical kid. He constantly amazes me with what he knows about how the world operates. I guess that’s what happens when you have two engineers for parents.