What does the bunny mean?

[walthall263]

So in the last lockdown my daughter and I decided to have a clear out of teddies and toys. She would have been 6 at the time.

Fast forward over a year later and she's become obsessed with this bunny teddy we threw away at the time. Everyday, several times she says she misses the bunny, it's keeping her awake at night and she can't stop thinking about the bunny.

Just a side note, she got this bunny as a baby and never seemed to have any interest in it. The bunny has never had a name and she seems to name all her teddies. It just sat on top of her wardrobe gathering dust.

She has been struggling with separation anxiety recently and is struggling with going into school so I'm not sure if it's something like this. But my partner and I can't for the life of us figure out why the bunny has become so important and causing so much distress.

We've asked what she misses about it and she can't seem to give us an answer.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

[Littleguggi]

What was happening around the time of the clear out? You mentioned lockdown so her routine was already up in the air. Was she or the family under any stress? Seems like the timing of the clear out was significant more than the bunny itself, the bunny has become of symbol of that time.

[parietal]

My DD has had odd attachments to toys. when we were on holiday, she was miserable and said she missed 'strawberry'. strawberry had sat unloved in a corner for 2 years before this, and was also neglected as soon as we got back from the holiday. But i think her plea of 'I miss strawberry' was a way of saying 'I'm homesick'

In your DD's place, she might be saying 'I wish things were like they were before'. So think about other changes that have happened in her life and what else you can do to give reassurance. It probably isn't about the bunny, and she may not even be able to put into words what is wrong, but she seems anxious about something.

(of course, you could also buy a replacement bunny, but you still need to deal with the anxiety).

[walthall263]

This actually makes a lot of sense thank you.

As I mentioned in my OP, DD has been having difficulty going into school and she has said she wants to homeschool, because she liked doing it in lockdown. Also, that she misses being in lockdown because she was at home all the time. So maybe the bunny is more of a symbol of how she felt about lockdown.

I think it's safe to say that the pandemic has had a massive effect on our kids and how they are having to deal with life now.

[winemedown]

I think kids are actually poets and it's what it symbolises for them. My DS says 'I miss the old totoro cushions and our old blue car' meaning he misses our old life in a small house when he was part time at nursery. Before school and me going full time and life got complicated.

[Littleguggi]

I'm glad this has helped OP. I agree, the pandemic has had a huge impact on our kids and we will only really find out the real impact in 10, 20 years time.