The rabbit died

The rabbit died. No, Tami is NOT pregnant (heaven forbid!). The rabbit literally died! Here's the story: Last week a student asked if she could bring her baby bunny in for show and tell. I reluctantly agreed because the slightest deviation from normal classroom procedures is enough to cause an uproar in my classroom. Well..... Today the student walked into my classroom carrying a baby bunny in a cage. I was a bit surprised to see it was a wild rabbit and not a domesticated one. I also noticed this baby bunny seemed awfully small. I asked the student to put the cage behind my desk. My students were heading directly to Art class and there was no time for show and tell until later in the day. While my students were in Art class, I was sitting at my desk grading papers. I don't know what caused me to check on the bunny, but I did. I noticed it wasn't moving. I thought maybe the pitiful little thing was sleeping. A closer look revealed this bunny laying on its side with its eyes open. Still the bunny was motionless. I reached into the cage and gave the bunny a gentle poke. Still no movement. I couldn't believe it. 20 minutes ago this girl carried a live bunny into my classroom (and before you think it was dead when she carried it in... I know it was alive... I saw it with my own eyes) and now it was dead. OH GREAT! This is just how I wanted to start my week. Well, I marched down to the art room to get the little girl who brought the bunny. As delicately as I could, I told her the bunny had died. She puffed out her lower lip and started to whimper. She asked what I had done to it. I assured her I hadn't done anything to her bunny and told her sometimes animals die. I was as gentle and compassionate as I knew how. She wasn't consoled by my words and just stood looking at the lifeless body in the cage as a few tears trickled down her face. Lord, why didn't she just rip my heart right out of my chest! The whole time I kept thinking this was my own fault for going against my better judgement and allowing her to bring the bunny into school in the first place. In  reality, I think the poor little thing was taken away from its mother too quickly. It was meant to be in the wild with her, not in a child's cage as a pet.

So as I sit typing this, there is a dead bunny in a cage behind my desk chair. It will stay there for the rest of the day. Teaching is always an adventure. There's always something new happening and I've learned to expect the unexpected.

How many more days until summer vacation? 7 and a half, but who's counting?