Join the Party!

Welcome! I’m so glad you stopped by to visit me and my bears during Bearbits “Christmas Tea for All the Toys” blog party. Tea time is not an everyday event in our house but it is always a special event for us and this time my bears, Sebatian, Alfie, and Ling Ling, are going to join in on the fun. Our youngest daughter particularly loves setting out all the pretty table things and baking scrumptious edibles to enjoy while drinking our tea. I sometimes wonder if one of the reasons it is so special to her is her memories as a very wee one going on backyard “outings” with their grandfather.

May I introduce Alfie, Sebastian, and Ling Ling. Sebastian has generously agreed to play the part of Grandpa and Alfie and Ling Ling are acting as the girls when they were little.

One of my fond memories of my late father-in-law is the teddy bear tea parties he held with my two daughters when they were small. The girls would tenderly carry their stuffed friends and troop with Grandpa to the back woods of my parent’s-in-law yard.

There the girls, their stuffed buddies, and Grandpa would sit on up-turned logs circling a larger “table” log in the center.
I’ve never been quite sure what they did during their tea parties—I never asked. It seemed a special time between the three of them which needed to be protected from prying questions.

I believe that Grandpa sometimes brought a tape recorder and they listened to the “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” song. I never heard him play the song, but I frequently saw the recorder ready and waiting on the kitchen counter when we arrived for our visits.

My father-in-law was a very serious, reserved man. He had a tender and warm heart, but rarely expressed himself. With his grandchildren, however, it seemed to be a different story, especially when he thought no one was listening. He was never particularly effusive, but you could frequently catch a laughing twinkle in his eyes.

In my imagination, though, he was different in those back woods tea parties. I picture the three of them around the log table imagining a troop of teddy bears dancing around them as they ate cookies, “fed” their stuffed buddies, told stories, got silly, and sang along with the tinny sounds emitting from the tape recorder.

To them, their rustic setting was transformed to the most elegant of events. Of course, that’s what I imagine, so I’m really not sure.

However, I do know that there was always a perceptible difference in the three of them upon their return. There was a spring in their steps that wasn’t there before. The girls were more animated and giggly. And the twinkle in my father’s-in-law eyes shone brighter and deeper. It was such a sweet time. Their joy spread throughout the house and a lovely lightness enveloped us all.

I hope during this Christmas you may experience the mystery of the season and find snatches of joy where you previously did not expect them so that a lovely lightness may envelop you and yours. Don’t forget to go to Bearbits so that you can visit all of the other blogs participating in the “Christmas Tea for All the Toys.”

I would love to have you consider joining my blog as a follower and to visit me again next Saturday for the “H’artfelt Christmas Blog Party” and my giveaway. The giveaway is one of my favorite indulgences during the cold winter months--I'll reveal it next Saturday! All of these Christmas blog parties have been so much fun to prepare, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Happy Christmas!
Heaps of Hugs,
Cheryl

P.S. Sebastian, the large brown bear who played the Grandpa in our story, is available for adoption starting today at Bear Pile. You can click here or on the Bear Pile link on the right side bar. He is a wonderfully sweet big guy—a real heart-warmer.