It is an American Easter tradition most families partake in…the requisite picture of the children with the Easter Bunny. We deck our kids out in their Easter Sunday best and trek out to the local mall, bribing them with promises of treats if they stay clean and pose for a nice picture that you can then send to the Grandparents and share on Facebook as if to say “See we are a normal American family”. My Bestie and her family are one of these families that made this trek to get the girls pictures done with the Easter Bunny…however there was one small glitch. Little Red was TERRIFIED of the Easter Bunny. You know how sometimes these pictures, whether it be with the Easter Bunny or Santa, sometimes have a crying child in them? Yup…the ones taken when she was an infant and toddler shows her screaming her head off, an obvious look of terror on her face while Big Red sits smiling prettily at the camera. It was quite comical to us adults, but the fear was real.
After a few of these therapy inducing pictures. Little Red refused to even go within a 100 yards of the Easter Bunny that I am pretty sure she thought was a reincarnation of that scary one from the movie Donnie Darko. She once made it as far as the front of the line, looked right up at her Momma and said “Nope. I can’t do it. I need to leave.” Bestie, being the great Momma that she is, allowed her to leave and Big Red had her picture taken instead. So for years, their traditional Easter picture looked like this:
Little Red’s fear of the slightly terrifying Easter Bunny (I have to admit they kind of freak me out as well and Seester definitely shares her fear) got to the point that she didn’t even want to visit the mall when this thing of her nightmares was there…not even to play in the playground. Really it did. This leads me to the story of how she gave BFF some words of wisdom surrounding this mystical but scary creature.
BFF and I had gone down to visit Bestie and her family and we all went out to dinner. Afterwards, the adults decided, since it was summer and it was hot, to go get some ice cream at a Dairy Queen, because who doesn’t love a good Dairy Queen ice cream cone? I know I do! I could hear my inner Fat Child squealing with delight over the possibilities of the ice cream delights they offer on the menu. Bestie quietly said to us that we should go to the DQ by her house, even though there was one in the mall we were having dinner near because the girls would want to play at the mall playground and we agreed. So, we all piled into their car and headed off to get ice cream yummies. As we passed the mall, Big Red looked up puzzled and said “Mom? Aren’t we going to get ice cream?” This is when the following conversation happened:
Bestie: “Yes honey but we are going to get it from the DQ by our house.”
Big Red, still puzzled: “But Mom, there is a Dairy Queen in the mall and it is closer. Why don’t we just go there?”
BFF could see where this was headed so she decided to head off the questioning with a comment that she was hoping to stop Big Red from wearing us all down with the endless why questions: “Sweetie, we can’t go into the one in the mall. You see, I am scared of malls.” (At this point the adults in the car are giggling)
Big Red (shock crossing her face): “You are? You are scared of malls?”
BFF: “Yup. So we have to go to the Dairy Queen by your house so I don’t get so scared.”
Suddenly there is a sweet Little Red hand on BFF’s arm, patting it comfortingly and an upturned earnest face as she says: “It’s ok. You don’t have to be scared of the mall anymore. The Easter Bunny is gone.”
Insert peals of laughter from the adults.
Needless to say, Little Red did eventually overcome this fear a few years ago so I can proudly display this traditional American Easter photo:
Oh yeah. I didn’t die today. I did, however, remember how Little Red schooled us on overcoming our fears but I didn’t die. I am Fat Girl who is also thinks the Easter Bunny might resemble something out of our nightmares Running. The experiment continues…