A day in the life of .. "Bumper"

5pm ... I arrive home from errands.

5:05pm .. I ask Jackson to come upstairs. A bit upset because he called his sister to get the code for the TV to purchase a movie without permission.

5:06pm ... Hayley runs downstairs to beg me not to yell at Jackson. "I've done something you're gonna get WAY more upset with. So just save your yelling for me instead of him".

I pause to think about this. It's amazing how a zillion things run through my mind in less than 10 seconds. Mostly then it feels like my head is going to explode so I just have her continue.

5:07pm ... "well, you know I've made a lot of money babysitting lately. And pretty much it's my own money. I know how you wanted to buy a backpack right? Well, I've decided that I don't really need a backpack."

I stop her to tell her to get on with it already. All this blubbering is making me more nervous. What the hell did she spend her money on then? And why is she so nervous about telling me what she spent her money on?

But also by this time .. all the children that were in the house came to gather in the living room. It really looked like we were in a boxing rink .. they literally surrounded us. I looked around at faces and realized I was the only one in the dark here. Some of their eyes were as round as saucers .. others had a smirk on their faces (the ones I know that hate Hayley). I looked over at Jackson and he seriously had his hand over his mouth.

5:08pm ... "well, please don't get upset but it IS my money"

"OH MY HELL HAYLEY JUST TELL ME OR I WILL ASK SOMEONE ELSE IN THIS ROOM TO SPILL IT" (probably Dillon because he's almost completely smiling at this point)

5:08pm .... "okay mom. I got a baby bunny today. please don't yell. it's super cute. just come look at it. you'll love it"

Again ... at this point I had flash back. Not a good one. Four years prior we had bunny. A cute one. A litter trained one. One that she would randomly let out of the cage. One that ate through cords. One that chewed my favorite boots under my bed. One that she took for walks on a leash. One that she wouldn't clean out the cage. One that I had gave away to the school across the street. NOT A GOOD MEMORY.

5:10pm ... We walk up the stairs together to take a look at it.

So it was cute. Tiny. It hopped around on her bed. She bought the cage and all. I held it. Sophie sniffed it. But it hasn't kept me from displaying my unhappiness with the situation. Kids were still gathered .. but now outside her bedroom door. Take it back? Not an option. There came a point where I just sat on the bed, gave up on lecturing ... I felt defeated... almost depressed. What could I do? Pretty much nothing. I simply told her it's going to get big and not cute and it will eventually die and she'll be sad.

That was the best I could do.

6:04pm ... She leaves with boyfriend to go out.

8:35pm ... I was feeling bad for having evil thoughts about the bunny. Go in to her room to visit the little guy. To tell him I'm sorry cause it's not his fault. Open door .. turn on light.

It's not moving. Laying down. I FREAK out. Call Sean up. "IT'S DEAD .. IT'S DEAD!!!"
He feels it .. "yup, it's cold .."

8:41pm ... I call Hayley "get home. your bunny is dead." Silence ... then a burst of tears. (thinking back .. I could have been a bit more gentle about it)

8:51pm ... We are still in the room staring at the dead bunny. All the sudden .. it's back legs start kicking and it's head starts moving around.

Sean says "that damn rabbit is alive??"

*** don't be thinking at this point that this story is going to end in a miracle. cause it's not ***

The poor thing kicks and has convulsions. And makes noises I didn't know bunnies could make.

9:04pm ... I call Hayley again "where the HELL are you? Now the bunny is alive and is calling your name. Get your ass here and come witness what happens when you do stupid things!"

She's crying. Says to take it to the animal hospital (to which I promptly said uh.no.)

I'm crying. I can't watch this creature do this. I walk out. Feel horrible that it's suffering. And there's not a thing I could do about it. Sean offers to put it out of it's misery. NO!!!!!!!!

Emotions I go through ..

extreme sadness. extreme stress. extreme sickness. extreme anger.

ANGRY because WHY WHY WHY ... she brought the damn thing home. She didn't ask. She left. Now I am the one left to watch this. To deal with it. To watch it die.

9:35pm .. She arrives home. Just after it finally dies. Granted .. she's crying too. But she missed all the horrible gruesome awfulness of the whole thing.

Life wasn't fair yesterday.

To any of us.

I'd say I'm the one that got the raw end of the deal ... but I think that glory belongs to the bunny.

R.I.P Bumper.

I don't think any of us here will forget the memory you left us ...

*But seriously .. when I said it was gonna die I REALLY didn't mean like immediately.