Josie's Easter Nightmare

How could I forget the kids first picture with the Easter bunny?!

We took the kids to the mall to get a pic with the Easter bunny and really thought they would love it. Josie has never been scared of the characters at Disneyland and she was only mildly nervous about Santa. I was wrong. Actually, I was more surprised at Donny's reaction than Josie's. Josie immediately started resisting and whining as we walked toward the bunny. Donny screamed like I have never heard him or any other baby scream. It was SHEER TERROR!!! I never would have thought Donny would be that frightened. He started clawing at Kevin so he wouldn't let him go. It was so sad. They both reacted so dramatically, I didn't want to put them through that kind of torture so we left and decided to try again later. We watched some other kids go and I explained to Josie that the bunny was nice and soft and that all the other kids were just fine. She sort of warmed up to the idea when I told her he gives out candy. So, we tried again. As bad as the pictures look, the first time was worse, lol. The bunny was actually quite friendly looking so I'm not sure what triggered this.






Anyway, this is how the final picture turned out. I felt so bad for them, I at least wanted to provide some moral support. I didn't want them to think I was leaving them to be eaten by the evil bunny!

This is how Josie felt about being done with the horrifying bunny.



For literally weeks after, Josie would randomly start talking about the experience. "Mommy, the bunny's nice. He's soft. He's not scary. He wont hurt Josie. He gives candy." She would reassure herself and often end up in a worried tone saying, "I don't want to sit on the bunny's lap. I don't like the Easter bunny!" Poor thing. I've created a new fear!