My son is right - there’s something not quite right about the Easter Bunny
My kid is terrified of the Easter Bunny. I don’t blame him. It’s weird that we think it’s cute to subject our children to grown people dressed up in costume, pretending to be a fictional character. The kids know that bunnies don’t really walk upright and talk to us and they are freaked out that not only do we want them to accept that these abominations mean well - we also want to force them to sit in their laps! Even treats don’t help that much.
Santa was scary enough and he still looked and sounded Human. And the candy cane helped smooth over the edginess of the fuzzy red suit. But now we ask him to approach a six foot tall rabbit with huge wobbly eyes just so we can take his picture - he’s right to think we’re nuts.
We, as parents, spend a lot of time trying to negotiate the fine line between teaching our kids to be friendly and yet be cautious. There are whole books about how to teach your kid “stranger danger” and yet we ask them to approach the strangest of strangers on holidays. I’ve watched too many parents tease their children for being afraid of Santa or the Easter Bunny and then scold them for talking to a stranger in the food court. We need to be more careful about their feelings and assumptions about the world. They don’t differentiate situations like we do.
My 2 year old is still learning about the world and his place in it. I want him to be friendly to people but to always check in with me and make sure I’m nearby and paying attention. He understands that, even at 2. I don’t take it for granted, but I appreciate it. I try to honor his judgements about the world. This weekend, I will encourage him to approach the Easter Bunny but will not make fun of him if he’s scared.
Those instincts about something not being quite right about a situation should be accepted and developed in a child so that they feel empowered later in life to walk away from more dangerous situations that give them that same gut feeling.
Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Would you trust a grown adult in a costume beckoning you to come closer so he can give you candy? Me neither!
~M
March 24th, 2008 at 6:37 am
How is the little one? About time you all did a mass mailing of new photos to the family. When he gets old he will appreciate that the bunny was a consort to a pagan goddess left over from the days when new converts to Christianity wanted to keep some of their old customs, tradtions and even gods…the word easter comes from the name of the goddess. It’s interesting history. I googled it last year. Hope you are all well. We have snow here and it is cold about 20 degrees. Happy spring! Love from part of the northeastern branch of the family.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
We look forward to seeing you all up there in just a few months!