Build a Bear

 


        On my last birthday, C gave me a bear he made at Build a Bear. This is a store that has a selection on unstuffed toy animals and other creature which people can purchase and stuff. There are various items that allow the animal to make sounds or play specially recorded messages. When the paw/ hand of the item in pressed, the recording plays. There are also clothes and accessories to dress the toy.

        C bought me an interactive bear. When it is turned on, the bear wiggles his ears and makes sounds according to what I say. It also says a few phrases. When he is turned off, the bear closes his eyes and starts to snore for a few minutes. He is named Sparkle and I like him very much. 

        I brought Sparkle over for my Mom to see. For those who don't read this often, my Mom has Alzheimer's. I had heard that sometimes dolls or stuffed animals provide comfort and companionship to those suffering from dementia so I thought I'd bring Sparkle once to see how she'd react. She enjoyed playing and talking to him. I decided that it would be nice to get her a bear of her own.

        C and I ventured out to the Big Mall yesterday where the Build a Bear store is. After we completed our walk we went into the store to get the bear. There were unstuffed creatures of all sorts. There were several cute bears and part of me really wanted to stuff one for myself. I already have a nice collection though including a few from Build a Bear. I didn't need any more teddy bears. I looked around for the interactive bears. I saw an empty shelf. What if they sold out? What would I do? I looked at other shelves and found the one with the interactive bears. I pulled out several looking for just the right one. C and I found one we both liked and proceeded to the stuffing station. 

        Before we stuffed the bear we were offered a selection of goodies to put inside the bear, I turned them all down. Then an employee helped us to stuff the bear. I felt a little stilly stuffing a bear while a group of young children waited to stuff theirs. The employee asked me to choose a heart. There were several small stuffed hearts in various colours. I told him I didn't need one. The employee said it came with the bear and the bear needed a heart. I chose a red one and had to go through the "heart ceremony". That is the ceremony where you "activate" the heart and put in inside the bear. You make several wishes for the bear and do certain actions. I felt so silly doing it but at the same time I teared up a little. The last thing you do is kiss the heart. I gave the heart a little kiss and put it inside the stuffed bear. The employee sewed it up and handed it to us. 

        You can make a birth certificate for the bear and that is what we did. I had planned to let Mom name the bear, but changed my mind. It's not like she is going to remember what the bear's name is anyway. C suggested we name the bear Elvis as Mom is a big Presley fan. That sounded good to me so that is what we did. I wanted to get the bear a red t shirt. Mom's favourite shirt is a red polo shirt so I thought she might like the fact that the bear had a matching shirt.

        We paid for the bear and a cardboard box to store the bear. The box has black and white designs on it that Mom could colour if she wants and it would be a good place to keep the bear.  We left the store. I was very pleased with our purchase.  I'm looking forward to seeing Mom enjoy her new friend.

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