Mascots, We Adore Thee

It's Easter time, which means the bunny is at the mall. There was a big discussion about what color the bunny would be, fueled by pictures of Easters past in the scrapbooks. Molly's infant pictures involve two separate bunnies, one brown and one white (but interestingly, wearing her costume backwards, so the fluffy pink tail is on her front, even though the head is on correctly). Rebecca's baby picture with the bunny includes a pale green rabbit (?) with a giant pink bow. For the last two years, there were no Easter Bunny pictures because both girls were scared of him. In fact, Molly was terribly frightened, even at age 5 1/2, by anything with a big head. On her Pre-K enrollment form, they asked "what your child is afraid of" and I wrote, "Mascots."

Then we went to Disney World. Before the trip, I sort of threatened them: you WILL like the characters! This is not Six Flags, it's Disney, and these are all the characters you know and love. They are guys and ladies who dress up in costumes because they like to make children happy, I told them. There is nothing to fear. And, indeed, they loved the characters at Disney World, shied away from only King Louie (very large orangutan from the movie Jungle Book) and Mr. Incredible (Rebecca only). The others were a hit!

It seems I have opened a significant can of worms. After one trip to see the mall bunny (who was white with a flowery vest and glasses, for the record), I now find myself explaining on a daily basis why we cannot go back to see him again--every day. "Okay, if we can't go see the bunny, can we go to Chuck-E-Cheese and see Chuck-E? And when is Christmas so we can see Santa?"

For now, however, they'll have to settle with the picture on the refrigerator of the two of them with this year's bespectacled rabbit. And they'll have to help put that one in the 2007 scrapbook and guess next year about the mall bunny's color.