Feel Better Bear

The Feel Better Bear is a new resident in our household, introduced in response to Luca's latest cold. Yes, we have a cold tearing through the house AGAIN and it sucks sucks sucks! Complicating things further, we're hosting a BIG event at work tomorrow, after which I am jumping on a plane bound for a 2 day meeting in Reno. In other words: we don't have TIME to be sick!

But sick we are, and it started with Luca on Friday, and she's STILL feeling crappy today. Luca's a very verbal 2 year old, so when she's not feeling well she lets EVERYONE know about it and, in no uncertain terms, demands lots of coddling. Which, really...if you know me you know I'm not exactly saying no to the snuggles and couch time. But bedtime was proving to be a bit of a challenge for a few nights, and she was fighting going to daycare, which is rare for the kid who last week told me that instead of staying home with me on my day off, she wanted to go to daycare.

:::pulls knife out of heart:::

Anyhow, out of necessity, the Feel Better Bear was born. Last night after she went to bed, we could hear her coughing and fussing in her room. This from the kid who usually goes right to sleep without so much as a protest. Desperate for a good night's sleep (I was up about once an hour every hour, and also for a chunk of time from 11:15-12:30 the night before with Romo, who's cutting a top eyetooth AND nursing the cold as well) I went up to check on her. And tripped over one of her eleventykajillion stuffed bears. And suddenly I struck what appears to be Mommy Gold.

Picking up the bear, I knelt by her bed to run my hands across her forehead and smooth her hair. Her eyes were rimmed red, she was clammy, and she said in her best (overly dramatic, super pathetic) voice, "Mama, can you sleep with me?". Look, even if I was small enough for it to be feasible for us to both fit in that bed, MY bed was calling me with its down mattress topper and down pillows. So instead of ME, I offered her the next best thing.

"I can't," I replied. "But I have something for you. This is Feel Better Bear (brandishing bear I picked up off floor). If you let him give you kisses and you hold him tight, he'll help you feel better." And then I swooped the bear down until his nose was kissing hers.

Wide eyes.

Swooping the bear again, this time so it kissed her cheek.

Smile.

Swooping once more, kissing the other cheek.

BIG smile!

Swooping one last time, kissing on the lips.

A laugh, sweet as could be.

I tucked Feel Better Bear in next to her and got up to leave, but she stopped me when I opened the door. "Mama, you hafta kiss Betta Bear Night Night!", and I knew she was sold.



This is not the actual FBB, but a stand in Luca used to explain the FBB love to Rohan.