Beyond a large hill, there stood a beautiful house. But it wasn’t an ordinary house. It was as blue as the sky, with suns painted on it. Its roof was bright red. It stood in the middle of a blossoming meadow. Colorful and sweet-smelling flowers grew all around it. But what kind of a house was it?
It was a preschool for young animals from the forest. There was a classroom for fawns and for baby squirrels. There was also a classroom for little badgers and hares. All the young animals really liked going there. Everyone could play and learn new things and they all had friends there. The owls were the teachers. The wisest animals in the forest.
One day it was time for a little hare named Skippy to start attending the preschool. He was now old enough to start learning and to meet the other hares in his classroom. But he was really scared.
“Mommy, I don’t want to go to preschool. I will learn everything at home, I promise. I want to be here with you,” little Skippy said every day. But mommy hare was very wise. She loved Skippy very much. Even though she would love it best if he could be with her all the time, she knew that it was the right choice for him to start attending preschool: it would help him become more independent and he would learn a lot of new things. And so she thought about how to help her little hare not be scared of preschool. And then she had an idea.
In the morning, as mommy hare was getting Skippy ready for preschool, she had something for him. She knelt down to be on the same level and said: “Skippy, today is your big day. I know that you are afraid and that you don’t want to go to preschool. And I am not angry about that at all. I understand how you feel. It’s a new place and you will be without me for the first time. I have something for you to help you make it through your day at preschool. It’s an anti-crying bracelet.”
“What? And how does that work?” Skippy looked at the bracelet curiously as his mommy tied it around his paw. “It’s a bracelet that will always remind you that I am thinking of you and that I know that you will be alright. Look at the letters written on it. ILY. That means I love you. If you get sad, look at the bracelet on your paw and it will cheer you up. You will know that I am thinking of you and that I am proud that you are doing so well at preschool. And you will not feel like crying. You’ll see,” mommy hare explained to Skippy.
This infused the little hare with courage. When he arrived at preschool, his teachers the owls gave him a very warm greeting. He met other hares and really enjoyed playing with all of them. And when he felt sad for a moment because his mommy wasn’t there, he looked down at his bracelet and it instantly cheered him up. He knew that his mommy was thinking of him and that she would come pick him up.
In the end, Skippy grew to like preschool and looked forward to it. He showed his mommy the things he made there and boasted that he’d jumped the farthest during physical education. He was also glad that he had found a lot of new friends there. And his mommy? She was prouder of him than ever.
