Monte called me yesterday. I was driving home from playgroup and he was trying to get me to guess what he was holding. I was getting stressed by his playful guessing game. I was getting worried that one of my pets had died.

And then he said: “just guess. It’s small and fluffy.”
I said: “is it a rabbit?”
And he said: “yes.”
At this stage many things ran through my mind. He had gone out and bought another bunny; Henry was dead; and then…
I said: “is it midnight?”
And he said: “yes!”

Monte was excited because when he looked outside to Henry’s hutch he saw little Midnight hopping around near the hutch. He must have come back for water and to sniff this new bunny in his cage. Monte ran out and grabbed little midnight and put him in the old hutch.

We are glad Midnight came back. The children are happy! I think that the rabbits must have escaped that windy night but they did not get very far. And because Georgie has been so good at feeding them regularly, Midnight knew to come back. Flopsy will not be coming back.

Because the old hutch is not very secure, we are keeping it in the chook pen, which is very secure. The chooks love perching on the hutch, especially my Henny Penny. The children will have to make sure they give Midnight plenty of grass and pellets and vegetables and water daily because the chooks have scratched every skerrick of grass in their pen.

As I write this, early on a Saturday morning, the children are cuddling on the couch, with Midnight on their laps. They are stroking him, talking about him (“he is so cute;” “he has lovely eyes;” “he is so little”) and planning how to care for him.

Pets are so good for children.