Bear In a Box

I joined a co-op playgroup/preschool and last week it was my turn to teach on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday the letter of the day was "B" and the theme "Bears."  The goal was to get the kids familiar with the "Buh" sound.  I was brainstorming other "B" words that could accompany "Bears" and I couldn’t get past "Boobs" and "Boogers."  I asked the internet and wasn’t satisfied with the reply so I headed over to my ZEN place: Michael’s Arts and Crafts!  Amongst the toll paints and woodcraft cutouts I found a flat, blank, wooden teddy bear and a latched wooden box just big enough to hold the little guy.  "Bear in a Box!" I said aloud.  "What are you gonna do mom?" my four-year-old daughter Ally asked with a note of apprehension.  "I am going to write a poem about a bear in a box and you and your friends will decorate the wooden bear and the wooden box!"  "Oh," she said, squelching a smile from the corners of her mouth: a signature “Ally Stamp of Approval.” So here it is:

Bear In a Box

I have a bear, a little bear

He was hiding outside under a chair

I asked him if he’d like to be

Inside a nice warm house with me

He said alright, he said he could

“But don’t you know I’m made of wood?”

“I know you are, I don’t mind

I think you’re quite a special find”

He looked around, scared and worried

And into the palm of my hand he hurried

“I am small and very flat

I’m surprised you didn’t notice that”

I shook my head, said, “Little bear

If you’re small or thick or covered in hair

My little friend you will always be

Safe in my room at home with me”

He seemed content with what I said and asked

“But where will I rest my weary head?”

I looked for a moment, found the perfect place

A bed for a bear, a wooden case

“It’s just the spot for a bear your size

A place you can hide your troubled eyes

But I will open the box every midday

So just the two of us can play”

His face lit up and he went to see

“Yes, this box is just the place for me!”

We fastened some felt to make it cozy

The excitement turned his cheeks all rosy

He hopped inside and said “Thank You”

“I’ve never had a friend so true”

I pated his head, tucked him in tight

He closed his box and went to sleep for the night

The very next day and every day after

Our afternoons were filled with laughter

We shared secrets and stories, books we read

Or we just played checkers instead

I know you’d really like to see

But he only answers a knock from me

And that is how, as sly as a fox

I keep my secret bear in a box