Bathrobe Stories (1 of many) - The Bunny

As most mothers have found out life does not always wait for the most convenient of times, and there will be moments where you are pressed into dealing with a situation unprepared. Thus, I have put together a short collection of stories honoring the oftentimes hilarious moments of unpreparedness.


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It must have been a Saturday. As observed through the kitchen windows it was also one of those beautiful sunny starts to the weekend. The sun was shining, the horses were out grazing in the pasture behind the house, and several of the barn cats were starting their sunbathing early in the driveway next to the barn. In family tradition Saturday mornings entailed Dad, cup of coffee in hand, standing over the stove making pancakes. Swinging the spatula by the handle like a plastic pendulum he would wait until some undisclosed moment when the perfectly round pancake was ready, and with practiced ease would flip the pancake golden brown side up. It was really almost an art.

Not more then ten feet away two bright eyed girls under the age of eight sat at the round kitchen table, legs drawn up and crossed in their chairs. Reused plastic Pizza Hut kid cups sat before them half filled with Orange juice. Plates and silverware had already been set, and a glass Aunt Jemima syrup bottle Dad insisted on refilling and reusing sat ready for eager hands to pour. Their tousled bedheads bobbed as they carried on a lively and diverse chatter with Dad; which usually led to plenty of laughs.

Mom would come down the stairs garbed in her thick royal blue cotton bathrobe, and Dad would make some comment about "it" being "alive", which usually led to the rolling of the eyes and some exclamatory noise from Dad as he gave voice to Mom's displayed consternation. Giggles would break out from the direction of the kitchen table, as all enjoyed the jesting.

This Saturday as described was much like any other Saturday, and before long the entire family sat around the table with syrupy lips and satisfied tummies. The weekend tranquility was soon interrupted however by a very loud, very distressed scream. Chairs were shoved back, and faces pressed up against the kitchen window in the hopes of seeing what was causing such a ruckus. Unfortunately the screaming had a source. One of the barn cats could be seen trotting very proudly down the driveway towards the barn with a baby rabbit in its mouth. The rabbit who sounded more like a human infant was letting the whole world know that it did not want to be breakfast for some hungry cat. Fortunately for the rabbit Mother inherited a tender heart for all living things from her mother, and before we all knew it she had raced to the front door flung it open and took off barefooted, bathrobe flapping towards the barn yelling at the top of her lungs, "you let that bunny go!!". Almost in awe the rest of the family stood frozen at the windows watching her bath-robed form close in on the cat, and then disappear into the barn. What we did not see was Mom following the cat into the hay mow, and diving headfirst into a pile of hay to retrieve the poor bunny from the jaws of certain death. Instead we soon saw Mom emerge from the barn, with an old birdcage in hand which was now home to one very alive rabbit. Hair rumpled and still retaining some stray pieces of hay, and bathrobe disheveled she nevertheless marched proudly from the barn carrying her prize. We being the kind and affectionate family that we were, congratulated her on her success only after first having a very hardy laugh, and describing again in detail the appearance of Mom running across the yard. While Mom may have suffered some in humiliation for the bunny rescue, she most certainly was a hero to the rabbit whom we helped to recover before turning it lose in an alfalfa field down the road.

Thus concludes the first bathrobe story, and you will have to stay tuned for the second. *Please note that I can not claim this story as truth, ;-) but you will just have to draw your own conclusions.