“In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small, quiet companion.” ~ Peter GrayI used to run a preschool in my home named, “The Teddy Bear Preschool,” addressing the “Bear Necessities of Life,” a subtitle created from the music of the movie, Jungle Book. I’m not sure when my obsession with teddy bears began, but somehow over the years it grew into a full blown addiction! Maybe it began when I was a young mother with my two year old son, Cordale, sitting beside me on the couch nursing his beloved teddy bear, “Hank,” while I nursed his new baby sister, Aleesha. Perhaps it began much earlier, as a young child, tucking in my assorted stuffed animals in bed with me at night, hoping to hide my favorite long-haired, yellow kitty from my roommate, a teenage sister with a cat paranoia! Maybe I transferred her nightmare fear of cats into a cuddly teddy bear love.
I recall taking a VERY large Teddy Bear named, “HB” (abbreviation for “Huggy Bear”) with me to college, a hand-me-down from my sister, Judy, engaged to be married and ridding herself of old boyfriend memorabilia. HB became a symbol of love and a secretly murmured humorous nickname for one of my clueless college roommate’s boyfriends, when she’d mysteriously disappear for hours every weekend on their dates to make-out mountain!
College HB led to an even bigger adult bear obsession, when as a mother I shopped for special teddy bears at Christmas time, excited when I qualified for “four” store bear give-a-ways one year, enough for all my little girls! To be fair, my husband, Dale, was an enabler, indulging me with gifts of stuffed bears for Christmas and other holidays. On one particular Christmas my daughter, Ashley, and I received “twin” bear gifts, mine from Dale, hers gifted from her brother, Cord. A year later, Ashley sat hugging her well loved, dingy white teddy bear, looking up at my still sparkling white, clean teddy bear, safely out of reach adorning my upper bookshelf, and exclaimed with sadness in her voice, “I feel sorry for your teddy bear. It never gets loved or played with.”
One of the books that I used to read to my children was called, “Ted E. Bear Finds Christmas,” by Diane Mayfield. I liked the clever title and named my Teddy Bear Preschool “bear puppet” the name as well. Ted E. Bear taught the preschoolers their alphabet letter of the week, with an appropriate rhyming song. He was a clever, intelligent bear indeed!
My preschool fulfilled all my bear needs for a while, with bear alphabet and number decorations, bear calendar and weather bear, bear coat hooks, bear name tags, bear snack crackers, bear bingo markers, Teddy Bear Newsletter, worksheet bear stamps, and the teddy bear book bags, professionally stenciled and crafted on my home serger. Each year my little bear preschool began with a teddy bear open house with bear “dot to dot” take homes and homemade teddy bear suckers. I decorated a teddy bear Christmas tree for the preschool holiday bear program. In the spring we had a teddy bear picnic with teddy bear shaped Rice Krispie treats. The year always ended with teddy bear graduation, featuring my preschooler bear singers and a bear diploma. Finally, as all good things eventually come to an end, the Teddy Bear Preschool doors closed when I decided to have one more baby and build the preschool area of my basement into another bedroom. However, my farewell to bears and the storing away of my preschool bear paraphernalia opened up the door to a whole new bear obsession.
“Beanie Babies,” specifically bears, made by Ty from the original beanie babies collection, made their debut into my life when my daughter, Elizabeth, went to college and brought home my very first beanie bear. It appeared to be a fun, harmless collectable, only $5.00. My heart warming inexpensive treasure was a snow white colored bear with black eyes, brown nose, little bear ears and tail, with a red “heart” embroidered on his chest. He was adorned with a scarlet ribbon around his neck, romantically named, “Valentino,” appropriately dated with the birth of February 14, 1994. I DO love clever names and marketing ploys for adorable inanimate objects. I was hooked! More than a century later I have an overwhelming amount of beanie bears for every holiday and special occasion imaginable. Finally I have taken the pledge, joining “Bears Anonymous,” a club that exists only in my mind. I have vowed a “no bears for me” policy. For once you have run out of room on the collectable shelf of life, having hideous amounts of other bears stored in boxes, with no more room for display, it is time to openly recognize you have an addiction and quit! Of course I can’t guarantee there won’t be an occasional emotional relapse with a chewy gummy bear, or my favorite, a delicious chocolate cinnamon bear! And yes, if you’re wondering, I DO have a “build-a-bear,” (two) with clothing and accessories. Because some things really are the “Bear Necessities of Life!”
“Everything in life I share, except of course my teddy bear!”
I recall taking a VERY large Teddy Bear named, “HB” (abbreviation for “Huggy Bear”) with me to college, a hand-me-down from my sister, Judy, engaged to be married and ridding herself of old boyfriend memorabilia. HB became a symbol of love and a secretly murmured humorous nickname for one of my clueless college roommate’s boyfriends, when she’d mysteriously disappear for hours every weekend on their dates to make-out mountain!
College HB led to an even bigger adult bear obsession, when as a mother I shopped for special teddy bears at Christmas time, excited when I qualified for “four” store bear give-a-ways one year, enough for all my little girls! To be fair, my husband, Dale, was an enabler, indulging me with gifts of stuffed bears for Christmas and other holidays. On one particular Christmas my daughter, Ashley, and I received “twin” bear gifts, mine from Dale, hers gifted from her brother, Cord. A year later, Ashley sat hugging her well loved, dingy white teddy bear, looking up at my still sparkling white, clean teddy bear, safely out of reach adorning my upper bookshelf, and exclaimed with sadness in her voice, “I feel sorry for your teddy bear. It never gets loved or played with.”
One of the books that I used to read to my children was called, “Ted E. Bear Finds Christmas,” by Diane Mayfield. I liked the clever title and named my Teddy Bear Preschool “bear puppet” the name as well. Ted E. Bear taught the preschoolers their alphabet letter of the week, with an appropriate rhyming song. He was a clever, intelligent bear indeed!
My preschool fulfilled all my bear needs for a while, with bear alphabet and number decorations, bear calendar and weather bear, bear coat hooks, bear name tags, bear snack crackers, bear bingo markers, Teddy Bear Newsletter, worksheet bear stamps, and the teddy bear book bags, professionally stenciled and crafted on my home serger. Each year my little bear preschool began with a teddy bear open house with bear “dot to dot” take homes and homemade teddy bear suckers. I decorated a teddy bear Christmas tree for the preschool holiday bear program. In the spring we had a teddy bear picnic with teddy bear shaped Rice Krispie treats. The year always ended with teddy bear graduation, featuring my preschooler bear singers and a bear diploma. Finally, as all good things eventually come to an end, the Teddy Bear Preschool doors closed when I decided to have one more baby and build the preschool area of my basement into another bedroom. However, my farewell to bears and the storing away of my preschool bear paraphernalia opened up the door to a whole new bear obsession.
“Beanie Babies,” specifically bears, made by Ty from the original beanie babies collection, made their debut into my life when my daughter, Elizabeth, went to college and brought home my very first beanie bear. It appeared to be a fun, harmless collectable, only $5.00. My heart warming inexpensive treasure was a snow white colored bear with black eyes, brown nose, little bear ears and tail, with a red “heart” embroidered on his chest. He was adorned with a scarlet ribbon around his neck, romantically named, “Valentino,” appropriately dated with the birth of February 14, 1994. I DO love clever names and marketing ploys for adorable inanimate objects. I was hooked! More than a century later I have an overwhelming amount of beanie bears for every holiday and special occasion imaginable. Finally I have taken the pledge, joining “Bears Anonymous,” a club that exists only in my mind. I have vowed a “no bears for me” policy. For once you have run out of room on the collectable shelf of life, having hideous amounts of other bears stored in boxes, with no more room for display, it is time to openly recognize you have an addiction and quit! Of course I can’t guarantee there won’t be an occasional emotional relapse with a chewy gummy bear, or my favorite, a delicious chocolate cinnamon bear! And yes, if you’re wondering, I DO have a “build-a-bear,” (two) with clothing and accessories. Because some things really are the “Bear Necessities of Life!”
“Everything in life I share, except of course my teddy bear!”
~ Unknown
“Bears are just about the only toy that can lose just about everything and still maintain their dignity and worth.” ~ Samantha Armstrong
“When everyone else has let you down, there's always Ted.”
“Bears are just about the only toy that can lose just about everything and still maintain their dignity and worth.” ~ Samantha Armstrong
“When everyone else has let you down, there's always Ted.”
~ Clara Ortega
“Teddy bears don't need hearts as they are already stuffed with love!” ~ Author Unknown
“Teddy bears don't need hearts as they are already stuffed with love!” ~ Author Unknown
It seems like we all have collections of some kind. Mine are always enabled by Ken. My sister has an egg collection and I remarked once that it might be fun to have one. My collection is now bigger than my sister's, with 90% of it coming from Ken. I also have a heart collection and a butterfly collection. I have to be very strict on what Ken can bring home because, as you noted, the collectible shelves are limited.
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