Shoe Shopping with a Bunny

Springtime is definitely Hannah's favorite time of the year. All of her most treasured things return to life and her days are spent stalking bugs and talking to mounds of dirt, asking them when the flowers will start blooming.

Our backyard is riddled with tupperware "treasure chests" housing bugs that didn't make it through the winter, yet still have a leg or wing that moves in the wind, which is all it takes to convince Hannah that it's still alive! But the thing Hannah is most fascinated with is the thought of holding a baby bunny, and nothing I say can convince her that it wouldn't be in the bunny's best interest if she were to pick one up. "I'll be SO gentle with it Ma Ma, and I can put lotion on my hands so it wouldn't smell me. That's a good idea, huh?!"

Her fascination with all things small easily passes over into her own life. For the most part, it's a lot of fun. One morning she'll emerge from her room wearing butterfly wings and exclaiming that she broke open her cocoon while she slept! And, sure enough, her bed sheets are thrown all about her room as part of her transformation! The best afternoons are spent fishing for worms in puddles and trying in vain to make mud angels in the muck every time my back is turned.

However, there have been a few times when the animal/insect world has melded with our own in a way that isn't quite so magical. At breakfast the other day, Hannah was trying to convince Adelaide to pretend to be a baby bird. Being that I hadn't quite finished my cup of coffee yet, I didn't see where this was all going until Hannah started to spit out her chewed up toast in front of Adelaide and was instructing her baby sister to eat it. "Come on Baby Bird ... EAT IT! Hee heee hee!!" Ugh.

Well, with all this puddle jumping and mud wallowing, the girls were in need of some new shoes. Hannah has some strange aversion to trying on shoes, but the last few times haven't ended in tears, so I thought we were safe. Things were going swimmingly (mostly because the store had a purple pair of shoes to her liking), when Hannah suddenly stiffened up as the man bent down to try to put the shoe on her foot. She quickly tucked her legs underneath her and told the man that she is like a baby bunny. He looks up at her, smiles and says, "Yeah, I bet you can hop really far in these new shoes - just like a bunny. Should we try them on?"

And it was like I was back at the breakfast table with a gooey wad of ABC toast staring back at me - I was once again two seconds too late in stopping the train wreck that was about to happen.

With her bottom lip sticking out and tears brimming in her eyes, Hannah blurts out, "I don't want you to put those shoes on me - then my mommy won't take care of me because she'll smell you on my shoes!"

Oh boy ... did that lesson ever come out wrong!