The Green Teddy Bear and the Delightful Logic of a Four-Year-Old Mind
Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
It's summer time in Arkansas , school is out, and the weather is beautiful-well, most of the time. We do have our share of rain and stormy weather this time of year, but in between we have wonderfully warm sunny days. The pool is open and is usually full of grandkids and their friends from mid-morning to early evening.
My four-year-old grandson has been with us for two weeks and now it is time to go home. His parents miss him and he has begun to show signs of homesickness so we are packing his bags and gathering his favorite "Cars" cars and monster trucks in preparation for the trip home.
Since Papa has been having major hip pain, I will be driving our grandson home accompanied by his other grandmother. Since it is a four-hour drive, I prefer not to go alone and she has graciously agreed to ride along with us and help with the driving.
It has been an uneventful trip with my grandson sleeping most of the way. About twenty-five miles or less from his home, he wakes up and asks for his teddy bear. Now, you have to picture a well-worn stuffed animal that has become more than just a Teddy Bear', but a best friend, a security blanket of sorts. Only then can you get a good clear picture of the importance of this particular possession.
With the three of us looking around the loaded van, his hysteria bumps up a notch when there is no sign of the Green Teddy Bear with the monkey's voice (you can build anything at Build-A-Bear Workshop)! I can't believe that with all the packing and gathering up of toys, drinks, and snacks, we have forgotten the second most important passenger on this trip- The Green Teddy Bear. Now my grandson is crying at the top of his lungs.
"Grannie, you've got to turn around and go back!" He pleads between hiccups.
"Oh, Baby, we can't go back now it's too far. Look, here's a froggy you can hold; he's all soft and cuddly. See how cute." I have kept this stuffed frog in the van for a year or so just for such an occasion. But, of course, he's not buying it.
"No. I want my Teddy. He's my friend!" Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
"Ok, Mick, don't cry. As soon as Grannie gets back home, I will put him in a box and mail him to you. How's that?" I'm grasping at straws now.
"No, Grannie, that won't work. Our mailbox is too small!" WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
By now, his other grandmother and I are hiding our laughter behind coughs. We are amazed at how quick his mind was to grasp the notion that a Teddy Bear in a box would never fit their mailbox.
I'm ashamed to say that I left to come home allowing (although I didn't lie to him) him to believe that I would go home and promptly make a return trip with the bear in the van. I did, however, go to the post office first thing this morning and was assured that the bear would be there tomorrow. Should the Postal Service fail me, I will be going to the mall and then make another four-hour drive to Russellville.
My four-year-old grandson has been with us for two weeks and now it is time to go home. His parents miss him and he has begun to show signs of homesickness so we are packing his bags and gathering his favorite "Cars" cars and monster trucks in preparation for the trip home.
It has been an uneventful trip with my grandson sleeping most of the way. About twenty-five miles or less from his home, he wakes up and asks for his teddy bear. Now, you have to picture a well-worn stuffed animal that has become more than just a Teddy Bear', but a best friend, a security blanket of sorts. Only then can you get a good clear picture of the importance of this particular possession.
With the three of us looking around the loaded van, his hysteria bumps up a notch when there is no sign of the Green Teddy Bear with the monkey's voice (you can build anything at Build-A-Bear Workshop)! I can't believe that with all the packing and gathering up of toys, drinks, and snacks, we have forgotten the second most important passenger on this trip- The Green Teddy Bear. Now my grandson is crying at the top of his lungs.
"Grannie, you've got to turn around and go back!" He pleads between hiccups.
"Oh, Baby, we can't go back now it's too far. Look, here's a froggy you can hold; he's all soft and cuddly. See how cute." I have kept this stuffed frog in the van for a year or so just for such an occasion. But, of course, he's not buying it.
"No. I want my Teddy. He's my friend!" Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
"Ok, Mick, don't cry. As soon as Grannie gets back home, I will put him in a box and mail him to you. How's that?" I'm grasping at straws now.
"No, Grannie, that won't work. Our mailbox is too small!" WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
By now, his other grandmother and I are hiding our laughter behind coughs. We are amazed at how quick his mind was to grasp the notion that a Teddy Bear in a box would never fit their mailbox.
I'm ashamed to say that I left to come home allowing (although I didn't lie to him) him to believe that I would go home and promptly make a return trip with the bear in the van. I did, however, go to the post office first thing this morning and was assured that the bear would be there tomorrow. Should the Postal Service fail me, I will be going to the mall and then make another four-hour drive to Russellville.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Ms. Sandra,Thatnks for sharing such a heartwarming story; your grandson looks 'cool' in that photo! And, I'm sure his teddy feels the same way about him.I would have to say that it would have to love him as much as he loves it. The Teddy is the only person (thing) he will share hugs and kisses without an argument.Thanks for reading and commenting, Ronyae.SandraI can picture it now, Ms. Sandra (smile)!
Great story, Sandra. My youngest son had a security blanket (a literal blanket) that he absolutely needed to get to sleep. Jean and I were happy to oblige until the day it was lost, and there was nothing we could do. We probably would have made a 4 hour trip to replace it, but since we had received it as a gift, we had no idea where would could get a replacement blanket.It took a few days before Nick stopped asking for it. I guess it was time for him to learn to live without it anyway. A few months ago we found it hidden in the back of a cabinet, but even though Nick is now 9, we still haven't told him about it!That's sweet. we have a granddaughter that had a 'literal' security blanket. At Ten, she has finally outgrown it.Thanks for reading and commenting, Bruce.Sandra
Hi Sandra, I feel your pain! What a wonderful story. Kids can be persistant and smart! You reminded me of so many moments like this with my son. He did not give up so easily either.Thank you so much for the smile. Blessings! TeresaThanks, Teresa. Well, the Teddy Bear made it there fine through the mail. As it turned out there was a large mailbox at my son's duplex for larger packages and my grandson was pleasantly surprised to see that his teddy made it without any harm.Have a good week, Teresa.Sandra
Great article. Well done.I must have been strange - I never can remember loving teddies. But I do remember having a bizzare fear of a Basil Brush teddy. As to why I will never quite understand?Security blanket issues are strange to me also. I never had anything like that when I was growing up, but then we were very poor and toys or special blankets were not something we got very often.Thanks for reading and commenting, Connor.Sandra
Hi Sandra.Great article, i truly enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing and for writing this piece. Your story reminded me when my sisters were small and my Mother, a dressmaker, used to make rag dolls for us. I am glad that you and the Postal Service did a wonderful job.Best regards,NenitaThank you so much, Nenita. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love writing about my grandchildren. Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
Hi Sandra,Thanks for sharing this amusing story.The trip home sounded like quite the adventure and as with all truly great adventures, you need to build tension and end on a cliff hanger.In fact I'm sure you could write a bit of a story for your grandson about the adventure teddy had on his way home in the mail, where he arrived safe and sound and ready for big hugs and kisses.My son also has a safety blanket which is actually part blanket and part teddy bear (the best of both worlds). He got it as a present when he was born and it quickly became his best friend. At which point we hunted all around to find a place that stocked them so that we could buy another one as a backup.Having two means that we all have a little piece of mind (occasionally our best friends like to trick us by hiding in closets, boxes, shoes, behind cabinets and sometimes in plain sight) but it also means that we can wash and rotate them regularly so they'll both last longer and smell fresher.I highly recommend a "backup" to everyone.Kind Regards,Ben.Backups are great as long as they are identical--little minds can be very astounding when it comes to figuring things out. We have only one Green Teddy, so he just get washed often. I unstuffed him, removing his voice box for fear of ruining it in the washer, using extra fabric softener/freshener, then re-stuffed him, and sent him home smelling all fresh and clean. And believe it or not, my son said that my grandson noticed right away that the voice box was not in the very tip of the bear's hand where it normally was. My son told him that it probably just shifted up a little from being bounced around by the mailman. Actually, I think I didn't get it exactly right when I restuffed it; but I think I'll just leave things as they are. Oh, well.Thanks for reading and commenting, Ben.Sandra
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