I will admit that Goodnight Moon and the Runaway Bunny  (both by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd) were not staples of my childhood and I don't hold the same affection for them as say, The Poky Little Puppy (♥).    And The Runaway Bunny has always struck me funny, oddly.  I just haven't 'gotten' it, much preferring Mama, DoYou Love Me?, and while I appreciate the mother bunny's dedication to her child, I never quite understood her stalking his every attempt to strike out on his own (as I said, I don't have any connection to this book...).

But today, I got it.

Rowan needs a nap. And she doesn't want a nap. And needing a nap means not having the coping skills to handle her frustration.  She is wearing her favourite (too small) dress and she threatened to 'wreck it' and then she pounded the counter saying how angry she felt (yay!).  And then (we were in the washroom) she declared she was not going to wash her hands and instead was going STRAIGHT TO BED. Um. OK, I can live with that! (Gosh, it takes a mighty strength not to giggle when she gets into a rage).

She went to her bed and began to cry about having germy hands.

I picked a book to help calm the mood~ and just happened to grab the Runaway Bunny, and I got it.  For the first time I heard how angry the young bunny was feeling. And how his best expression of that was to push away his mother, to take it out on her because she is safe.  And her response was not to let him run, but to follow him, supporting and guiding him, ensuring him that she was always with him to help with the feelings he couldn't handle. No matter his choice, she would be there to care for him, undettered by anger and driven by love.
 When we finished the book, I asked Rowan, if she would like a hug and kiss. I thought she might say no. She said yes. And she is sleeping now.  ♥