Care Bears

Care Bear stare!!! Is there anyone today (youth or middle-aged, at least) who doesn't know exactly what that came from? Well, if there is, they certainly didn't belong to the Wilson family, or live by Sounds Easy Pizza/Video. I remember watching many a Care Bear video on a Friday night (or maybe we just watched the same one many times). I probably prayed for a Care Bear, like I did a Popple, but that wish never came true until Sage was born, and dear Aunt Carolyn bestowed on her a set of three plush Care Bears, which hung from her jungle gym and became favorite teething toys.

During Christmas 2006, Krista gave Sage a set of Care Bears checkers. The checkerboard was never used, but 1 1/2 year old Sage insisted on keeping the crumply packaging the Care Bear playing pieces came in. She took each Care Bear out, then carefully put each one back in its place in the packaging 20 times a day. It was a devastating day, although inevitable, when the packaging broke. The Care Bears have, nonetheless, retained their importance in Sage's life, even sans plastic package.

Sage's favorite Care Bear is the turquoise one (of which, thankfully, there are about 5). One day I took the kids to IKEA, and I didn't realize Sage had sneakily brought a beloved turquoise Care Bear with her. Of course, the excitements of the children's section and 25 trial beds were too much for Sage's loyalty, and the Care Bear gained a new home. An hour later, Sage realized her mistake, but it was too late. Have you ever tried to turn around in IKEA? Impossible. Nor did I have any desire to go look for the stowaway checker-piece, who happened to have 4 Siamese twins (quintuplets?) waiting at home. This meant nothing to Sage. It was trauma...but luckily we got to the children's furniture section, and Kim, Kelly S. and I were able to distract her with some sweet chairs.

Last weekend, I forgot to bring extra diapers for Sage to a wedding reception. Thankfully, Danielle and Adam were prepared with a size 3 Care Bear diaper. Sage normally wears size 5, but she was happy to make an exception. The velcro-like straps barely reached all the way around Sage's chunky torso, but Sage was bursting at the seams (literally) with happiness about getting to wear a CARE BEAR diaper.

Apparently, Eliza thought she deserved a turn, too, because the next morning, I found her carrying around the used diaper that Sage had removed and deposited in the trash. Maybe it's time to bring back the more sanitary plush Care Bear toys out of storage. Now I know to keep a vigilant "Care Bear stare" on the trash can if we are lucky enough to get to use any more of Danielle's extra diapers.

Maybe I should get my own stash of Care Bear diapers...for heirloom purposes. If they've survived this long, who's to say our furry friends won't be protecting happiness on earth in 20 years, too? For now, I better just protect the trash can, so Eliza can't build up her own stockpile of Care Bear friends and really give our visitors something to stare at.