It's no secret that little girls love teddy bears. When my first daughter was born, I was convinced that we were given too many of two things; swaddling wraps and teddy bears. Turns out I was wrong - we still use them all. The wraps come in handy for everything from making doll beds, mini-picnic blankets, lap rugs in the car on cool days, even helpful emergency-wee-wipers. The teddy bears, whilst numerous, each have a name, and are adored, forgotten, and then adored again, in turn.My daughter Mimi recently went to a party where each guest gets to make their own bear. Having never gone to such a thing before, both she and I were intrigued about what would happen. It was a great afternoon out. The store staff had the whole caper down pat, and there was enough to do and see to keep normally restless 4 years olds happy and (mostly) still.
It was fascinating to see which teddys and costumes each girl picked, and even more intriguing to find out what they chose as the name for their new best friends. Mimi selecting a pink ted was predictable but the canary-yellow princess dress was a surprise, as was the name she christened her toy with; "Love."
Strangely enough, as often happens, my daughter seems to be one-step ahead of me (I often think she's been here before), and the name of her princess-teddy has been a joy to share in. Last night she banged her head, but a quick "Love-cuddle" made the pain go away. Happy-Husband and I are often now smiling to ourselves as our family has chats about whether 'Love is in the car?' or if she goes missing for a moment, that 'Love will find a way' and so on...
For a small group of girls, building bears is a wonderful party option, and one that my daughter still talks about, with a keepsake that she, well, loves!
