The Easter Bunny Can Be Scary

It’s that time of year again: moms gear up to go on the hunt for the Easter Bunny with their kids in hopes of getting a super cute picture for their social media pages. It’s a timeless tradition passed down from our own moms. Until this year, I had never experienced one of my children being scared of the Easter Bunny. Normally, they are excited and bounce up to him ready to talk.

This year, however, it was different.

As we walked to see the Easter Bunny, I realized I was short one child. Panic sunk in. Where was my son? My rambunctious two-year-old has a history of being a “runner,” so I began calling out. It took a mere two seconds to realize he was hiding behind the door to the room we had just entered. He was standing there frozen, staring at the Easter Bunny who was sitting at the front. His first words — once I crouched down beside him — were, “That bunny scary, Mommy.”

I had a split-second to make a decision. Do I force my son to sit with the “scary bunny” for the sake of a picture or do I let him take it at his own speed and not worry about it?

With my first child, I probably would have forced the picture, making him sit, terrified and crying, while they snapped the photo. But I decided to do it differently this year since this is my third child and I knew what was about to happen if I forced the matter.

Thank goodness for the wonderful, patient women working with the Easter Bunny! While my two oldest and my 15-month-old went right up to the Easter Bunny for a picture, my two-year-old hung back only getting as far as the bunny foot prints. They asked if I was going to get him closer in the photo and I shrugged. I said, “I think I am going to just let him get as close as he wants this year.” They let me stand far back; I did as best as I could with my iPhone and snapped a picture with all four of my kids somewhat near the bunny.

I am not going to lie; when I started looking at the photos I took after I got my kids loaded into the car, I was a little frustrated with the photos. Then, I got to the ones where I zoomed out to include my two-year-old and I busted out laughing.

Was it the “cute photo” everyone wants with the Easter Bunny and their children? No. Was it an accurate funny photo of our lives, with me letting my two-year-old set boundaries with what he was comfortable with? Yes.

I share this funny story because the Easter Bunny is a little scary. It is a strange person in a costume with a wild looking bunny mask. It is normal for a child to be scared of something like that.

I learn something new everyday on this motherhood journey.

My lesson from this experience is that I have to teach my kids that it is normal to be scared, that it is normal to voice that they are scared to a trusted adult, and that it is normal for them to set boundaries with which they are comfortable when facing a scary situation. I know that is a lot to get out of an experience with the Easter Bunny, but it was a good lesson for me and my children. In the past, I have been the mom who forces the photo, even when my kids are scared. I am not going to promise that I might not make them sit in a photo if they are scared in the future depending, but this new tactic I used this year left me feeling good about the situation.

We left that “Meet The Bunny” experience with new trust between me and my two-year-old.