I always manage to keep myself busy.  I’m usually tied down with homework and work, so I take advantage of every spare second I find.  Over break, I was lucky enough to continue my Easter tradition. This was my third year playing the Easter Bunny for the neighboring city.  I had to wake up at 5:15 am so I could help hide Easter eggs. We had over 8,000 eggs full of candy and prizes for kids to find. At about 8:00 am, I suited up and prepared myself for the wide range of reactions I would get from the kids. Some kids are terrified of the Easter Bunny, and others are like the opposite pole of a magnet. I never know what to expect from them.

When I tell people that I am the Easter Bunny, they act like it is an easy job. I thought it would be too, but then I tried it. I think the hardest part is the head. Now, I’m a pretty petite person. I’m only 5’2 3/4″, so at least I can’t really intimidate the kids with my height. But when I put the head on, I am lost. My eyes line up with the cheeks.  The eyes are a few inches too high, so I’m constantly trying to adjust the head without all of the kids noticing. My mom escorted me around before the hunt to say “Hi” to all of the kids. First of all, the Easter Bunny has to be silent, because bunnies can’t talk. I’m not a quiet person, so that makes the job a little more difficult. Some people who recognized my mom came up to talk to her, and all of a sudden I was attacked by what felt like at least ten kids. But my head doesn’t allow me to see the ground, so all I know is that I had many young ones attached to my legs as I tried to walk around the field. While I was sitting down for pictures, a lot of parents would set their children on my lap without warning. Parents who did ask, would direct their questions towards me. Since I couldn’t talk, I had to find a way to communicate with them. Luckily I found a way to position the bunny head so that when I moved it moved.

I have some great memories from the morning:

• I’ve never seen so many children terrified of the Easter Bunny. Good thing I don’t take it personally.
• A young boy brought be a carrot.
• A baby boy was dressed up as an Easter Bunny when he sat on my lap.
• Another young boy came up behind, reached up the Easter Bunny head and found my hair. When he asked why I had hair, I shook an Easter Egg and he said “Yummy!” He forgot all about the hair and took the candy.
• I stayed warm while everyone else was freezing.

All in all, my day as the Easter Bunny was very enjoyable. I can’t wait until next year!