Disappointment

Things have been going well. Diana is going to school part time, and she loves it. Still, she was a little disappointed when the teacher asked her what song she wanted to sing, then didn't know the words to her favorite Disney song. Why Diana's teacher hasn't bothered to learn every song in the animated version of Hercules is beyond me.

Amelia and Diana were both disappointed when they missed an opportunity to throw a coin into a hollow stump and make a wish. You see, while riding a small train through a local park the train conductor announced the arrival of the "lucky tree" too late for mom to hand coins out to her daughters. Still, I did have the chance to toss one in myself with a swift throw over my shoulder.

When the train stopped, and the girls began complaining that they hadn't made their wish, I happily offered my lucky wish to the two of them. Amelia said that she wanted to use my lucky coin to wish for a new teddy bear. Diana, following her sister's lead, asked for the same thing.

Oddly enough, a few days later I was told that Amelia would need a stuffed teddy bear for class. Apparently students graduating kindergarten and pre-kindergarten normally bring home-made bears and collect signatures from fellow students as a graduation memento. I knew that the girls wanted new teddy bears, and my sewing machine was already up and running, so I agreed to make bears right away.

We got our bear pattern from school (a silhouette cut from a cereal box) and went straight to our local fabric store. Amelia chose a pink floral pattern and raspberry pink buttons for her bear. Diana wanted blue fabric with white polka dots (which I thought was okay, since her class wouldn't be signing the bear).

Amelia was excited to watch every step of the bear-making process. With dad's help, Amelia and Diana even stuffed the bear. Amelia wanted to bring her bear to Target and to lunch before I had a chance to sew her little stuffing hole. I finished the bear in the car, worried that she would lose all of her stuffing the first day if I didn't finish quickly.

Amelia's bear looks kind of funny and simplistic to me. The bear's legs are long and spindly and, like Hank Hill, the bear has no butt - no butt at all! But Amelia thinks her bear is great and loves the fact that we made it ourselves. In fact, if you ask her, she'll tell you that she made the bear.

Tonight, Diana's bear is almost complete. I will finish sewing the red, white, and blue bear tomorrow - hopefully before anyone loves the stuffing out of it.

Lisa