My daughter is a Care Bear

Eliza has decided that she's a Care Bear. And not just any Care Bear: she's Wish Bear. It's been that way for the past week. Before that, she was Funshine Bear for several months. She loves being a Care Bear, watching Care Bears, and playing with her Care Bears. She protests when I say, "Hey, princess, let's get your shoes on." Her lower lip thrusts out and she says, "I'm not a princess, I a Care Bear." A little later, I'll call, "Sweetheart, can you put this away?" "No, I a CARE BEAR!" Her daddy called encouragement to her on our hike yesterday, saying, "You're doing great, girl!" "I not a girl, I a CARE BEAR! I'm Wish Bear." This is our cue, for we are all Care Bears too. I choose to be Grumpy Bear (hey, that guy's a genius inventor even if he is slightly crabby). Teasing, DH always chooses to be Grizzle. Sarah is Share Bear, and so on through the family. Eliza's only need to be in control of the universe manifests itself in her alter-ego. Do you know much about Care Bears? I didn't before, but I'm learning. They care a lot. They sing silly songs and make mistakes that they learn from. When the world is in peril, a group of them stand in a circle and save it by doing the "Care Bear Stare." This is my first stint as a Care Bear. Lillian liked My Little Ponies when she was younger, but her games mostly involved creating elaborate homes for them out of Legos, not pretending to be one.
Joey was a superhero for a while, the kind that ride around on trikes with buckets on their heads and gloves on their hands. After that, he spent several years as a Jedi Warrior. It came naturally to him, as this video of the first time DH allowed him to watch Star Wars shows.
Michael was always some sort of character. (this is the video to watch, by the way, for those just skimming the blog, yeah, you know who you are!)
His pretend play has always been the most elaborate -- he wore his superman cape nearly every day for two years -- and lately he's settled on Pirates (the honest kind) as his favorite hero.
Allison and Sarah have been content to (mostly) be themselves. Perhaps having a twin sister beside you keeps you firmly grounded in the real world. They love princesses and dressing up, but they never had a particular hero they pretended to be, unless you count digging through Lillian's drawers and trying on her nightgowns. And now Eliza has matured enough to express her imagination. I don't know how long I'll be a Care Bear, but I'm trying to enjoy every minute. Sometimes I think about what life would be like if I'd done what many expected and stopped having children after the twins. I always feel a great loss when I consider life without Eliza and Harmony. They fill a space we needed filled, even though we didn't know it beforehand. One thing is certain. I would have missed out on my calling as a Care Bear.

Comments

3in3mom said…
that's darling--all of them
Lisa6Kids said…
HAHA! My kids all have carebear personas too!

Maddy is Tenderheart
Gabby is Friend Bear
AJ is Bedtime Bear
Ginny is Love-A-Lot Bear
Caleb is Wish Bear
Jillian is Harmony Bear

I had to ask the kids to get them all straight. LOL
That's so cute! I love it when my kids get into something like that! Tate for a long time would just have a tail...he wasn't anything specific, just needed a rope or some sort of string tied around is middle and it was a tail!
Wish we all could act like that once and a while!
Anonymous said…
Hi Christina,
I just popped by your blog and wanted to tell you how great all of your kids are. I love the fact that they all have their own great little imaginations.
Your blog is wonderful.
Please pop by and say hi one time.
Crazy xx
Tiffany Wacaser said…
Love it! Brooke is currently in a kitty phase. This can be a pain when I'm trying to change her diaper. But overall, it's still cute. My favorite though is when she is a robot. That is pretty adorable.

My boys have been dinosaurs, knights, Jedi knights, etc. And while they have had periods where they didn't pretend to be someone else, they've also had imaginary friends.
Veronica Lee said…
Hi, I'm visiting from MBC. Great blog.