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Lesson: Personal boundaries
A Rabbit on the Wall
After a busy day, Hattie doesn't want Grandma's usual Thursday hug. She just wants to show off the shadow rabbit she has been practicing. A warm, funny bedtime story about saying no to a hug and still being loved and included.
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For parents & caregivers
Inside this story
Hattie has practiced a hand-shadow rabbit all week to show Grandma at their Thursday supper. Sometimes its ears flop and it looks like a snail wearing a hat. After a cold, crowded swimming lesson, Hattie's skin feels prickly. When Grandma arrives with open arms for her usual big squeeze, Hattie, who loves her, says, 'No hug today, Grandma.' Grandma lowers her arms at once and treats it as ordinary news. She asks for no explanation and no other gesture, busies herself with her stubborn coat buttons, and asks to see the rabbit. Grandma squeezes onto Hattie's tiny chair while Hattie sits across the room on her bed. The rabbit's ears flop as predicted, and both laugh. Then the rabbit hops, and Grandma joins in with a lopsided shadow Goose that cannot find any carrots. Hattie's prickly feeling goes quiet, and the two shadows rest side by side with a little room between them. Hattie's physical boundary is respected straight away and never revisited. She is not asked to compromise or make up for it, and no later hug proves anyone's love. There is no lecture or moral summary.