Knuffle Bunny Free

Tia Daniella introduced us to Knuffle Bunny, a wonderful book about a little girl named Trixie who lives in Brooklyn and goes everywhere with her stuffed rabbit, Knuffle Bunny. Until one day she forgets it at the Laundromat and chaos ensues...it's a great book with beautiful pictures of Park Slope, and we enjoy it so much that during one of the Borders clear-out sales, Drew swooped in and bought all the Knuffle Bunny books (apparently there are three, and the last one is called Knuffle Bunny Three).

Knuffle Bunny Three is about when Trixie is a girl of about 5 or 6, and she takes Knuffle Bunny on the plane to visit Oma and Opa in Holland...and then leaves the bunny on the plane, which then heads toward China. She's sad until one night she dreams about all the kids around the world who get to play with Knuffle Bunny. Then she's happy, and on the plane home she finds Knuffle Bunny in a flap behind the seat and decides to give it to a baby who's wailing behind her because she realizes she doesn't need Knuffle Bunny anymore. She eventually gets a letter from the baby's family.

As if that's not enough to inspire tears...at the very end of the book is a love letter to Trixie from her Daddy (i.e, from author Mo Willems to his daughter, upon whom the character of Trixie is based) that says he hopes he lives long enough to see her graduate from college, fall in love, get married and have a baby of her own...and the two times I've read the book to Rachel I burst into tears and ended up sobbing.

"Why are you crying, Mommy?" Rachel asked last night.

I really couldn't put it into words. I guess it's the inevitability of her growing up and going away from us, and then us realizing that that part of our lives -- the child-bearing and child-rearing part -- wil be over. It feels like Rachel is suddenly growing up too fast (after all the whining I did when she was a baby and I couldn't stand the endless crying and sleepless nights) and it's bittersweet watching her become more and more independent each day. It's the cycle of life, I guess -- my parents and Drew's parents went through it, and we will go through it, and Rachel, if she is blessed with a child, will go through it herself. It blows my mind that I never realized there was this whole well of emotions that come with being a parent that I couldn't even imagine if I didn't have a kid of my own. I'm so lucky I get to be a parent.

I ended up pleading with Rachel, "can I help you take care of your babies someday?"

"Yes," she replied generously.

Then I looked at her and croaked, "Rachel, please believe that you can always come home to Mommy and Daddy, OK? We will always be here for you."

I don't think it really registered. But maybe she'll remember.