Teddy

I was considering titling this post "Teddy: The Bane of My Existence", but then I thought that was a little harsh. I mean, the concept behind Teddy is actually quite sweet and the biggest problem with him is that my kids loved him sooo much.

Teddy is a stuffed bear from Colin's preschool. Everyday, a different kid gets to take Teddy home (so he's not lonely at school by himself at night), play with him, read books (which come along in his little tote bag) with him, and then document the time they spent together in a journal. I think it's sweet because it makes the kids feel special to get to take the bear home and then when they go back to school, they get to share with their classmates what they did with him. All I have to say is I'm glad Colin got that bear early in the school year. As soon as we pulled away from the parking lot on Tuesday he told me, "Mama! I get to bring Teddy home. He's my new lovey!". Needless to say, Teddy went *everywhere* with Colin. But if the thought of germs wasn't enough to get my skin crawling, there was always the whining. "MAMA! Eli's touching Teddy! Ma-Ma, Eli's running away with Teddy! MOM! Eli's looking at Teddy. I mean, seriously? I guess Eli kind of instigated these situations because he would wait for the moment that Colin put Teddy down for just a second and then he would snatch him up and run. Sometimes he would also grab him, wait for someone to see him and then do a little dance with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face that said "I'm ready to run as soon as you take a step toward me". It was the worst when we took Teddy to the park because Colin eventually didn't want to carry Teddy all around so he handed him to me and when Eli asked for him (because in the short 36 hours we possessed Teddy, Eli learned how to say "Teddy") I passed him along. Colin got upset that Eli was carrying Teddy so I asked Eli to give him back to his brother, which he did, and Colin promptly handed him back to me. Nice.

Colin and Teddy enjoying time at the park.

Despite the domestic conflict, Colin really enjoyed bringing Teddy home and did all sorts of fun stuff with him like building with blocks, reading books, playing at the park, and playing baseball (?). I'm actually not so sure about the last one because I never witnessed baseball being played. Colin drew a picture of them playing baseball to put in the journal and insisted that they definitely did play. Chris and I think maybe they just played in Colin's head. Colin was sad to give Teddy back today, but I'm sure he'll enjoy hearing about what all his other classmates do with him. And I'm also pretty sure we'll get Teddy back at least one more time this year, undoubtedly covered with kiddie cooties.

Look at the love.