Hello, this is Jennifer here. Finally I feel like I have something noteworthy to write about. Most people who know Anna also know her beloved Bear (that’s her name). Bear is a pink & white stuffed bear (who’d have guessed) that is about 10 inches tall and is very well loved. A few months after Anna chose Bear as her favorite toy (long ago), we set about getting a back-up Bear in the event that some awful fate should befall her. After searching far & wide, Dave managed to find 2 more Bears on E-bay (where else would you expect?) Now, Anna has no clue that Bear is actually one of a set of not-quite-identical triplets. Fortunately, we’ve been able to rotate through the bears without her noticing that one bear has a different color top than the others (pink vs. white) and that another has had minor surgery (thanks to Grandma D. for repairing a hole). Who knows, maybe she does notice but doesn’t want to say anything…

In any case, having 3 Bears has come in handy on a couple occasions when the current Bear was inaccessible. One instance was last week when Anna lost the privilege of having Bear at school for a day. I brought Bear to work to give her to Dave so he could bring her to Anna after school. Except Dave forgot Bear at work. Rather than spend 1/2 hour driving to fetch Bear, I had an idea. I convinced Dave to let me switch the Bears (the current one was in need of a rest anyhow) and tell Anna a little story to explain why the ‘new’ Bear was much cleaner and less tasty (per Anna’s observation) than the Bear she knew that morning….

After sneaking Bear into my van, I asked Anna if we should go get her. Anna was excited and ran out to the car. I got Bear out and presented her to Anna. “Bear went to the Spa to get refreshed and cleaned.” She bought it without a second thought. I felt a little bad about lying to her, but not too bad because Bear means so much to her…

For Bear’s second adventure, fast forward a day or two. I had gotten the first (dirty) bear back from Dave at work to smuggle home because I always have a bag at work. That day I happened to work from home that afternoon, so I had my bag open in our bedroom by my desk. Through the afternoon, I kept saying to myself, “I have to remember to put Bear away before Anna comes home.” Well, I forgot. Later that evening, while getting Anna ready for bed, she spotted the dirty Bear in my backpack with only the legs sticking out. “What’s Bear doing in there?” asked Anna. I quickly shut the bag and diverted her attention. I managed to get her off by herself for a moment or two while I dashed downstairs, grabbed the clean Bear, brought her upstairs, put her in my bag and hid the dirty Bear in my closet. This time, I opened the bag and pulled her out a bit. Just then, Anna finished whatever she was doing and was downstairs whining, “Bear, Bear! Where is Bear?” “She’s up here,” I called. I pointed out Bear sticking out of my bag. “What is Bear doing in there,” asked Anna? “She was looking for something in my bag,” I replied. “Oh, what was she looking for,” asked Anna? “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask her,” I said. Fortunately, that was an acceptable answer and we went on about getting ready for bed…