When Jamie and I were first married, he waged war with one of most treasured possessions: Mr. Bunny. When I went away to college, my mom started the tradition of sending me decorations for every holiday. This has continued even today and I have quite the collection.
Mr. Bunny has been with me for years. Not only is he cute and fluffy but he wiggles his cottonball tail while singing “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.” Who could resist that?
As it turns out, Jamie. Since those early days, he has developed a veritable hatred for rabbits partly because of Mr. Bunny but mostly because they are neighborhood pests who eat our garden. He has waged war to keep them out of our yard and has had the children in on the action from an early age. Whenever t Hadley would see a bunny, she was instructed to chase it out of the yard and if she caught it, she was going to “break his neck!”
Imagine this coming from a sweet 3-year-old’s mouth; obviously that was her father talking, not her. (Though her bestie Alex accidentally did that to her sister’s bunny when she was young. Jamie has never praised her more.)
The lowpoint of our newlywed years was after a particularly charming performance from Mr. Bunny, he went missing. I was worried sick…until I received a ransom letter from my new groom. Pictured on it was poor Mr. Bunny, bound and blindfolded with an encrypted message. I don’t remember how his torture chamber played out but Mr. Bunny eventually returned but he never sang again. It was like his very fluffy soul had been stomped upon by the Enemy of the Easter Bunny Spirit.
Fast-forward to my recent visit to Canada. I haven’t been home for Easter in years so it was fun to bring out the multiple storage bins of Easter treasures from my youth.
Imagine my sheer delight when I was unpacking them to discover my mom had not one but TWO Mr. Bunnies, who were sting singing that beloved song. I begged my mom to take one home with me and she generously acquiesced. I would surprise Jamie and I knew just how excited he’d be!
I called home to give him a teaser. I mentioned we’d been decorating my parent’s house for Easter and that I had a special surprise for him.
“It’s not that ##$#$* rabbit, is it?”
Little did I know he’s also a soothsayer.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 