"Look at this!" said Granddaughter on Skype. She was in a tent on the lawn and Little Brother was bouncing about in front of her.
"What is it?" I said. "I can't see it properly."
She waved it more vigorously. "It's the Pre-School Bear," she said. "I've got it for the weekend, and it's got a book with it and we have to write down everything the bear does and we have to give him lots of adventures and lovely food."
"That will be interesting," I said.
"Oh yes," said my son darkly. I could tell his heart wasn't really in it.
"But," shouted Granddaughter, remembering something important. "But this is a new bear. It's a different bear because someone....SOMEONE took the old bear to Disneyland, and they LEFT him there. They LOST him. He's still in DISNEYLAND."
"It's a lot of responsibility," said my son.
"What a pity it's not next weekend," I said. "He could have come here with you and had an Easter egg hunt in the garden."
"I think it's got to be even more exciting than that," said my son.
Little Brother continued to bounce. He didn't care.
So what will it be this weekend for an indulged Pre-School Bear and his diary, out to impress Pre-School staff as well as all the other parents with access to the record?
Parents who may have visualised a few hours of rest and relaxation, or a weekend putting up shelves and doing a big shop will need to get the bear to some sort of centre of excellence, a museum, a stately home, a zoo, a river trip, a concert, a theatre, a hot air balloon ride.
How much warning is given about this bear's visit?
Perhaps just about time to get a Ryan Air flight to somewhere like Disneyland, but will anyone dare
to go there again?
Maybe there's time for a last minute cottage booking in Cornwall.
And then there's the food.
Recorded in detail.
Wholesome, organic, home-cooked food.
"In no time at all," I said to my son, "It'll be the school gerbils. Then you're talking about
real responsibility. You'll have to send the cats away for the weekend."
"Oh, don't!" he said.
P.S. That is not the Pre-school Bear pictured above, old or new. It's one from my own collection. No bear of mine is going to Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chuckle! No bear of mine either to Disneyland.....Glad such pressure as this is behind me!
'That will be interesting.' Possibly the most useful phrase in the English language.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post.
Molly Bon: no grandchild of mine either, if I have my way!
ReplyDeleteP.Pete: good to see you. Yes, useful phrase together with 'I wonder how you feel about that...'
I'm glad we never had that!
ReplyDeleteIt was guinea pigs rather than gerbils here.
ReplyDeleteStill smiling at 'no bear of mine...'
I am pretty certain that my own well loved bears would be considered too scruffy for Disneyland.
gz: as my son says - the responsibility is too great. We didn't have to do it either, as parents, but it would have been fun to break the trend and record in the diary that we all stayed in bed until lunchtime, then watched t.v. for the rest of the day and sent out for take-aways when needed.
ReplyDeleteE.C: I hadn't thought of it, but maybe the scruffy 'real' bears are kidnapped in Disneyland so that distraught parents end up buying one of those Disney Pooh jobs? Hope you enjoyed the guinea pigs. At least they are awake in the daytime.