Bunny Woes

When I first brought Olive home I was stricken with anxiety. I finally had a bunny, she was perfect in every way, and somehow I couldn't get over the fear that in someway I wasn't going to be the best bunny momma to her. Once Olive and I made it back home I decided to spend some snuggle time with her on the couch while I watched Gossip Girl, even though she had just spent the last two hours sitting in Megan's lap during the car ride back home! Needless to say, Olive is an excellent "cuddler" she will sit there with her feet to my chest and her head under my chin and let me pet her endlessly.

After our snuggle session I put her in her cage for a little bit so she could adjust to her new home. An hour or so later, I set up a little playpen against the back of our couch. I made it out of huge cardboard boxes that I connected together - since I couldn't find a metal pen anywhere. I put down Olive's blue blanket and plopped her in, along with a few toys. She instantly explored the confinement of her pen, searching for a way out and refused to play with any of her toys. I was a little heartbroken, and I think that is when my anxiety started.

My panic was tied to the realization that I knew nothing about what the hell I had just gotten myself into. I thought she hated it, that she didn't want to be in her new home and that all she wanted to do was run away from me. So I cried to Megan for a few minutes and luckily she knew the right things to say, "She had a huge day." "She's getting used to the new place and needs time to settle in." "You'll be fine." And she was right.

The next morning, instead of setting up a circular play pen for her, I decided to utilize the hallway we have in the back of our house. I closed all the doors in the hallways, put up the cardboard barrier, put down her blanket, along with a little cardboard box for her to play with. I threw in some of her wooden toys, a toilet paper roll filled with timothy hay, and one of her bell balls. However, we have now moved Olive's play area from that hallway to our giant kitchen. And I think all three of us, my husband included, are better for it. It's so nice to watch Olive jump into, and over, her boxes and preen herself as she lounges around. And as a result I'm feeling a lot less panicked then I was last week.

I cannot wait to see how her amazing personality changes once she is fully settled in to her new environment.