I love my Bears

During a period of procrastination earlier in the week (I should have been decorating)I found myself reading back over all my blog posts from 2017 so far. I realised that in pretty much all of them I have been sounding more stressed and quite a bit less sunny than usual. Whilst there has been plenty going on to warrant my mood I can’t help but prefer being cheerful. With that in mind here is an unashamedly upbeat post about my gorgeous Bears and why I love them so much.

As Grizzly said recently our Bears are their own men. They are both quirky but completely at home in their skin. They are happy being themselves and it is lovely.

Little Bear likes to layer his clothes: 4 football tops one on top of the other; 2 pairs of socks; 2 Spiderman costumes for double muscles or 3 pairs of gloves like woolly Russian dolls on his little hands. He is also somewhat of a clothing comedian. He still sleeps with comfort blankets (muslin squares) and now and again thinks up a different place on his person to stockpile them. Once it was in his socks so he had to waddle about on fat ankles. Another time it was up his top. He has a lot of blankets so he looked as though he had developed a beer belly overnight. It was hilarious. I kept laughing at random that day, as the image of him as a miniature Santa figure kept popping into my head.

Little Bear’s strong opinions on clothing choices can be a little tiring at times. If someone suggests a kick-about in the garden he spends 20 minutes trying to find a full matching football strip. Sometimes Big Bear does too.

Big Bear is a little obsessed with football at the moment and starts many a conversation with “Mum, you know Naymar Junior? Well…” or “Mum, if you could have any Barcelona players on your team who would you pick?”. He starts conversations with grown men about football matches and it is never long before they start looking surprised that they are having a detailed bloke’s conversation with a 7 year old boy.

Grizzly has taken him to a couple of matches and said it is hard to believe how excited Big Bear gets and how loudly he shouts. Apparently people in the stadium turn to look because despite there being 70,000 noisy fans chanting and clapping, Big Bear’s voice still blares out! His passion and enthusiasm, not just for football, are very refreshing.

Both Bears are naturally gregarious and tend to get fully involved with things. I love to watch them enjoying life and having fun. There is nothing more uplifting than hearing them erupt into fits of giggles.

Big Bear has a proper deep belly laugh. It is as though he finds things funny with the whole of his body and he really submits to the humour. He can usually be found doubled over laughing several times a day. He is very free and generous with his laughter.

Little Bear’s laughter is a bit harder to come by but he is a lot freer with it than he used to be and when it comes it is incredibly infectious. He was watching Tom and Jerry the other day and nearly crying with laughter. The visual slapstick humour is perfect for him though who knew that a mouse whacking a cat on the head with a mallet could be so funny?! I was finding watching Little Bear much funnier than the cartoon.

Sometimes the Bears will invent a game together that makes them both laugh uproariously. Most of the time it isn’t clear what the game is or what is making them laugh so much but they seem to understand each other on a whole other level. Sometimes one of them only needs to make a sound or move a toy in a certain way and the other one is in hysterics. It’s gorgeous. Completely unfathomable but gorgeous.

Both Bears have a caring and sensitive side too. Big Bear is incredibly adept at saying things that people want to hear. He gives a good compliment. I love it when he praises Little Bear without any sort of adult nudge. He’ll say things like “well done mate, that drawing’s brilliant” or “you’re getting really good at football aren’t you?”. He is very tuned in to the need to help others feel good about themselves.

Little Bear is full of surprises. Sometimes he can be purposefully hurtful but he hardly ever does anything to upset his brother. He is generally very considerate towards him. He is also caring towards his friends and tries to comfort them if they are upset. Sometimes I worry unnecessarily about how he might be in a situation. Last weekend we took the Bears to visit Supergran. We told them she is “very poorly” and explained the need to be gentle towards her and calm (if that’s possible). Grizzly and I were a little fearful of how the visit could go but as soon as we got there Little Bear was on a mission to find her. He searched the flat and when he found her in bed he seemed to instinctively understand. He gave her the most enormous yet gentle cuddle he could. He gently inspected her arms where she is bruised from having cannulas fitted and stroked her wrinkles for good measure. He kept going away and then coming back to lay his head on her again. Supergran loved his uncharacteristic show of affection and he did make her feel happier than if he hadn’t been there. It was one of the most tender and deeply human moments I’ve ever seen: he didn’t use any words but said everything he needed to.

I’m always proud of my Bears but was especially so that day.

Thankfully both Bears are affectionate towards us because I can’t help but want to cuddle them and smother them in kisses. Although I really dislike it when Little Bear wakes me 35 minutes before my alarm each morning I secretly love it when he says “but I love you Mum, I just want a cuddle” and he crawls in next to me. I try to enjoy the 5 seconds of quiet snuggle I get before he starts jabbing me with his bony elbows and trying to engage me in conversation.

Big Bear has grown so much now that I definitely can’t pick him up and he’s getting a bit too cool to kiss me in the playground. Luckily Little Bear still likes to press his soft cheek against mine and weave his little arm around my neck. He still likes me to carry him occasionally and I don’t mind at all when he shoves whatever I’m holding out of the way so he can clamber onto my lap. I try to make the most of every cuddle because it won’t be too long before he pretends he doesn’t know me at school either.

When I crouch to tie the boys shoe laces both Bears tend to steady themselves by placing the flat of their palm squarely on the top of my head. I find it strangely endearing.

Like any mum I do moan about their mess, their inability to entertain themselves and the incessant noise and between them they do give me all sorts of things to worry about. But I know that I’m really lucky. My Bears are gorgeous inside and out and I love them just the way they are.

 

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