In the course of their travels Baby Bear gets filthy. Disgustingly dirty. Not in small part because Annie loves to throw him and make him 'fly' and he crashes to the floor wherever they are. I wash him on a bleach cycle in the wash as often as I can wrangle him away from my daughter. Than I withstand nearly two hours of tears, pouting, whining, whimpering and moodiness, until he comes out of the dryer, closer to clean than he's been since the last time. And I'm wondering how long he can hold up . . . he already has a small hole forming on his back.
So, I found a twin for Baby Bear online. Fortunately, he's a Ty Beanie Baby, so people actually hold onto, then sell, these things. I have the link for an exact clone of our current Baby Bear, minus some spaghetti sauce stains. And despite the first bear I found being $24.99 plus shipping, I came across a $5.49 bear, with $6 shipping. For twelve bucks, it seems worth it to me to get a 'back up' bear (or more accurately, another one to rotate with the current, dirtier, Baby Bear, so that I can give one a 'bath' without a major freakout on the part of my two year old.) Greg disagrees, saying that Annie is fine with the current Baby Bear, and should just wear him out 'til he's nothing more than a stuff-less bear skin. When he finally dies a natural death, Annie will learn to handle disappointment and move on with her life. Or, she moves onto a new toy, leaving Baby Bear to hang out with Moo Moo on the bed of forgotten baby dolls. Then I've wasted money for a spare for a doll she never uses. I'm not sure what I think.
In your opinion, is $12 worth a 'back up', or do we just let her run poor Baby Bear ragged until she outgrows him or he ends up looking much like my own tattered bear and blanket from my own childhood? (Rockin' the shredded look.)
Edited to add: Now Greg's leaning towards my way of thinking, but cautions I have to be careful to not let her know there are two of them, or she'll just want both of them all the time, negating my 'being able to wash one' thing; or she'll pick a favorite and ignore the other one anyway.
3 comments:
I think that Greg is right. On both accounts. Kids go through lots of toys, and if this one wears out, you can teach her to be more careful with the next one, and she will find something else to be attached to.
When I was her age, I had a blanket that I had 'loved' so much it disintagrated one night. I was much more careful with my next blankets. The one I have now does not touch the floor. That may be a bit extreme, but thats how I roll.
Let her run the bear ragged. I'd worry that because kids are smarter than they look, she might catch on that mom & dad are trying to con her into accepting a bear that isn't hers although it LOOKS just like him. If she sees right through this scam, you may still have the washing tantrums to deal with PLUS a neglected stand-in bear.
It's an interesting situation. Let me know how it all turns out!
I agree with Lena, Sare and Greg's orginal way of thinking. I think Annie would figure out that new baby-bear, being spaghetti-free and all, is a fraud. Or she would love the new one and ignore old one or demand both at once (Greg is right on that one. I have heard several parents talk about buying a 'spare' toy and then the child just wants both of them). Annie has moved on before and I think Baby Bear still has some miles in him so it's not like she'll have to deal with this in the next couple weeks, in addition to moving and everything. I think it'll be a while and then she should be able to move onto another toy. Hopefully Moo moo. . . I love that cow. Or maybe the duck. I like him too.
I'm glad you told me Baby Bears full name. I was very confused when Annie was talking to me on the phone and telling me that she was hanging out with Mommy, Daddy, Ellie and a Polar Bear.
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