The Runaway Bunny

When Bob was a toddler we read LOTS of books. I loved to sit and rock her in the rocking chair at bedtime (she hated going to sleep). I'd sing to her and read books then nurse her and put her to bed (I know you're not supposed to nurse them to sleep, but it was the only way to get her to go!).

I loved to read her all the Boynton books including The Going To Bed Book. Goodnight Moon was one of my favorites, so I assumed that The Runaway Bunny by the same author would be just as wonderful. Nope. I hated it.

The premise of the book is that a little bunny decides to run away, and his mommy says if he runs away she'd chase after him.

"'If you run away,' said his mother, 'I will run after you. For you are my
little bunny.'" And so begins a delightful, imaginary game of chase. No matter
how many forms the little bunny takes--a fish in a stream, a crocus in a hidden
garden, a rock on a mountain--his steadfast, adoring, protective mother finds a
way of retrieving him."

I found this creepy and stalker-like. This is one book I actually gave away (ask me how many children's books, including board books, I still have. Did I mention my youngest is 11?).

Now? Now I find that this is what my two older children need to hear. I still would not chase after my kids like the Mommy Bunny, but I will always be here. Bear said he would never speak to me again or allow me to be part of his life, and I told him I would still be here loving him. He then changed his tune a little later and said he might call us on occasion (!!), but he wouldn't tell us where he was and he would not allow us in his life. I told him we would still be here. I don't think he knows what to think of that. Of course he doesn't trust me so he doesn't believe me anyway.

While I was telling him that I would love him no matter what, I was thinking how much I sounded like the mommy bunny in this book. Maybe I should write a children's book for the Forever Child series (fairy tales written for children of trauma - OK stories, but my kids weren't at the right age to read them or able to handle the messages. Might have helped Bob understand Kitty a little better).