Reading “The Runaway Bunny” to Bean is an exercise in, uh… well, I don’t know. It has to do with the Aspergers- while in some ways he’s like every other kid (OK, not really) How bout this: In some ways, sometimes, he’s like other kids his age. Other times, the Asperger’s comes blasting through. As I learn more about the way his mind works, and put more tools in my parenting toolbox, it gets easier to anticipate and occasionally (glory be!) knock out problems at the pass. Sometimes, even, they become kind of amusing. Like tonight.
Tonight, Bean snuggled into bed, his mini-fan adjusted just right, his pillow right, his entourage of animals all accounted for, I began to read his story:
Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.
So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”
Bean: Mama, bunnies can’t talk.
Mama: I know, but it’s a story, just listen.
“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you.
For you are my little bunny.”
Bean: Mama, bunnies can’t talk.
Mama: I know Bean. It’s OK.
“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a fish in a trout stream
and I will swim away from you.”
Bean: MOM! He can’t become a fish. He is a bunny. And bunnies can’t talk!
Mama: Yes, Bean, bunnies are bunnies, but he’s using his imagination. It’s OK.
“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,
“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”
Bean: MOM! Bunnies can’t FISH!
Mama: Yes, Bean, I know. It’s a story. It’s OK.
Bean: If she is pretending to fish, is she going to pretend to eat him, too? Because when you fish, you have to eat what you catch.
Mama: No, Bean. She is just using her imagination to tell him how much she loves him.
Bean: That’s weird.
“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”
Bean: Mom!! Bunnies cannot BE ROCKS. They ARE bunnies.
Mama: Yes Bean. Do you want me to stop reading to book?
Bean: No! I LOVE this book!
“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”
said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,
and I will climb to where you are.”
And on it went. Every. Single. Verse. He takes things very, very literally. It’s easy to forget that sometimes. Other times, it’s painfully clear. I read him the rest of the book, and he snuggled down happy as could be, and he’s already asleep.
Dandelion Mama 
I love The Runaway Bunny and every single book by M.W. Brown. She’s one of my literary heroines.
And having a literal kid sounds very entertaining. My oldest son has this fixation (currently) on time. He’s constantly checking the clock like it’s going to run away from him or something. And 12:12. He loves when the clock reads 12:12. We do a happy dance. And then at 12:13, everything is completely normal again. Ahhh, five year olds, gotta love it.
my mom used to read me this book every night and she says that i used to copy the little rabbit, saying i was going to become a cloud and float away and become a fish and swim off, things like that. 🙂 i love this book.