Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Nibbles

Note: I posted a blog late last night about the Boston Marathon tragedies. I am also going to go ahead and post my "n" post for the a-z challenge. Feel free to read the Boston Marathon post here: http://www.m5carolin.blogspot.com/2013/04/boston-marathon.html

When I was 8, I decided that I despretly wanted a bunny for Christmas. I wrote a letter to Santa, dropped hints with my parents, and prayed every night. I was determined to get a little brown and white bunny.

Sure enough, Christmas morning came and there he was. A brown and white bunny in a steel cage, hopping around. In the home video you can hear my dad sarcastically saying "I can't believe Santa actually bought a bunny". Good ole dad may have been hesitant, but I was thrilled. I named the bunny Nibbles, and I immediately picked up the phone to call my grandma. Without taking a breath, I spit out "Hi Grandma it's me Megan I got a bunny he's brown and white and he's little and he's a boy." My mom and sister helped me take him out of the cage and showed me how to hold him. He was precious.

For a few weeks, I was head over heels for the little dude. I was so proud, telling all my friends about my bunny and wanting them to come over to see him. I was holding him, feeding him, even had a little leash for him. He was my pal and I was so happy that my Christmas wish came true.

 But the honeymoon phase did not last long. I started to forget to let him out and then his cage would smell. Then, I'd let him run around my room and I started finding bite marks on my books and dolls clothes, which made me angry. I also don't think I realized how skiddish a bunny would be. I was a nervous child, and having him jump around everywhere made me even more anxious.

One day I came home from school and noticed that Nibbles was gone. My dad gave him away to a repair man that came to our house to fix a leak in our basement. I deserved that-I didn't take my responsibility seriously, and my dad gave Nibbles away to someone who may. I'm sure my little 8 year old heart was crushed, and guilty. But it was also kinda, sorta, funny.

For the next few years we would see a bunny that looked like Nibbles and joke that maybe it was him. And my family exaggerated and tells me it took me WEEKS to discover Nibbles was gone. Nah. Days, maybe, but not weeks. To this day, when I see a rabbit, I think of Nibbles.

I learned a lesson there. Aside from hermit crabs that ended up a hermit crab homicide scene (I'm not kidding, one of my hermit crabs ATE the OTHER HERMIT CRAB), I never had another pet all on my own. After our first golden retriever died, we begged our parents for a second one and we did get him, but he belongs to all of us. He's still around and pretty much the best dog in the entire world.

So Nibbles, wherever you ended up,  I hope you lived a happy little life and that you were taken care of by another little girl. But I'll never forget that moment of excitement when I turned the corner into the family room and saw you for the first time.

14 comments:

Anonymous said... Add Reply

Aww my parents gave away my rabbit too when I was younger! My parents didn't like the smell and they said I didn't have time for her (her name was Bun-Buns!) so they found her a home. :( It was to a family friend and I found out later that they'd let it out and then she got hit by a car. Not a happy ending to my bunny's story. :(

Happy A to Z!

Kate @ Another Clean Slate said... Add Reply

Aw Nibbles! I am sure he is happy hopping around somewhere!

Deanna said... Add Reply

Cute story. I've never understood pets like bunny rabbits and baby chicks. They are so cute when they are little, but what next? You had a smart daddy, that's for sure. Now the Golden Retriever is another story. I don't believe there is a more lovable breed of dog ever. We had two over the years and I still mourn their passing. Now we have a tempermental, yappy, nippy, Chihuahua, but I find I love him just as much as our Goldens.

Unknown said... Add Reply

My kids love looking at the bunnies at the pet store but so far I haven't given in. We have 4 dogs and a cat and in my book that is a G0d's plenty!! Loved your story.

Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

Jackie said... Add Reply

I didn't have a bunny growing up, just cats and dogs. My friend had a bunny, though. I remember trying to hold it, but its back legs kept kicking. I'm sure he was just as nervous as I was. :)

Dee @ A Deecoded Life said... Add Reply

Bunnies are really cute! We had a bunch of them while I was growing up, but I never had one as my very own. All our pets were family pets, like yours. But sometimes I would get attached to a certain dog and feel like she was mine and get really sad when my parents gave her away. :(

~ D is for Deecoded ~

Samantha May said... Add Reply

I had a similar experience with the guinea pig. I was so thrilled by him at first, then grossed out by him after like a month :D

I got a cat from Santa when I was 8. We all take care of him, but he's technically my cat. That little furball thinks he owns the world.

Gina Gao said... Add Reply

I had a somewhat similar experience with a cat. I liked this post very much!

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Grover said... Add Reply

I kind of admire your dad for teaching your 8 year old self a lesson. But it seemed to come without any warning! My 8 year old self would have sulked for weeks ... who am I kidding, my 25 year old self would still sulk for weeks.

Shari said... Add Reply

Aww, I had a Nibbles, too, but it was a guinea pig. I loved that little guy!

Dawn Embers said... Add Reply

Aww... poor wittle bunny. My stepsister had a little bunny she named nibbles because it nibbled on everything. She didn't think about the issue of not being at our house very often cause she lived mostly with her mom. So, the bunny didn't get a lot of company but it lived in a little office room, had the room to himself, for years. I would check on the bunny occasionally and not just leave it. Not a good idea having a bunny considering we also had cats.

Unknown said... Add Reply

Hermit crab homicide; that is hilarious... Ok, creepy too!

Unknown said... Add Reply

That's cute story! :)

Unknown said... Add Reply

The loss of pets is so hard! Just stopping by for the A-Z Challenge. Juliet atCity Muse Country Muse