Day +585: The Velveteen Rabbit

Mina's school went to see a production of "The Velveteen Rabbit" last Friday. The Velveteen Rabbit is an old children's book that has been made into a dance performance, and has become kind of a San Francisco Christmas tradition. It's about a stuffed rabbit toy who becomes real. The school was able to get $10 tickets at kind of the last minute, and while some parents who aren't as spontaneous as Keri kind of grumbled, the kids all had a great time. Keri took Isaac and Mina, and she said both kids really loved it. Isaac was watching it very intently and commenting on it until he feel asleep after about half an hour. Keri said Mina paid attention the whole time. It was kind of a tearful event. Mina cried several times, the first time at intermission, when they stopped dancing. The second time Mina cried was when the rabbit came to life and was white instead of pink, like the stuffed rabbit was. And the third time she cried was when the rabbit hopped away, because she didn't want it to end.

Keri said she got a big sniffly as well, because the story involves a little boy who gets scarlet fever and is sick for a long time, and the Velveteen Rabbit is the one toy he loves so much who stays with him the entire time he is sick. After the boy gets well again, all the toys are piled up to be burned. That's when the Velveteen Rabbit turns into a real rabbit, to avoid the fire. In the meantime, the boy has gotten a new toy and has forgotten about the Velveteen Rabbit he had loved so much. Keri said it made her think a lot about Waah Baby. Mina, of course, hasn't forgotten about Waah Baby. She still says she has three babies, her two new ones and Waah Baby, except she doesn't know where Waah Baby is. But despite that, she's now taken to calling one of her new babies Waah Baby.

The kids went to a birthday party on Saturday for Leon, one of the kids in Mina's school. Leon has a guitar, and Keri said Isaac was hysterical. She said he looked at it for a long time before he finally asked if he could play with it, and when he got it, she said he was very gentle with it. And then he didn't put it down until it was time to leave, and then only under duress. Leon's mom told Keri she had to get Isaac a guitar the next day.