Mollys Guide - Spring 2019

At least things have changed since my eldest child
first brought home the previous school bear (RIP
Rusty, I reckon you disintegrated circa 2014, having
commendably served your time as the class mascot).
Back in the old days, before data protection was such
a hot potato, parents could leaf through all of the prior
entries in his accompanying journal.
Now, thanks to new GDPR laws, Buddy is sent home
with a blank piece of card and a polite request to fill it
with photos, drawings and stories.
Only the teacher gets to see what Buddy has been up
to with his host family.
There is no shame in taking the school bear absolutely
nowhere. That said, I secretly hope the next time
Buddy Bear is sent home we have something exciting
planned in the diary - like a festival or camping trip
because as a family, we do those things, too.
However, there is one thing that always happens
to the school bear while he’s with us - a ‘pamper’
session.
This involves a dip - well, more of a full-on drenching
and spin at 1400 rpm in the hydropool (washing
machine) and a blow-dry. During his last visit, I put
him in the tumble dryer for 20 nail-biting minutes. But
for the grace of God, he didn’t lose a limb or an eye,
so this time I dried him with the hairdryer.
I snapped a picture of my son brushing Buddy’s fur for
the journal but after he went to bed, I spent another
thirty minutes restoring the bear’s coat to its former
fluffy glory
I also used a Sharpie to cover a scratch on his glass
eye (he looked like he had a cataract) and coloured in
the frayed fabric of his worn,
leather nose, so the rips were
less noticeable.
Which is probably a good thing because there
was a tendency for some parents to view the school
bear visiting as the opportunity to play the oneupmanship
game.
According to an article posted on the Daily Mail’s
website in 2014 - a collection of teddy diaries showed
some parents giving the bear a taste of the high life
- think Greek holidays and helicopter rides. Internet
forums were filled with mothers driven to the brink by
the class bear.
Leafing through the school bear diary was probably
enough to make some folks feel as if they weren’t
trying hard enough at this parenting malarky. I imagine
them proudly sticking in their photo of Buddy Bear at
Prezzos, only to turn the page back a few weeks to
see an image of Buddy, sunning himself in Sorrento,
eating AUTHENTIC pizza while on a weekend jaunt to
Europe with a different family.
Thankfully, at my son’s school parents can no longer
compare antics, so most should feel relinquished of
any duty to show Buddy in anything other than an
authentic setting.
By the time I
finished he looked
(and smelled) like a new bear.
Buddy may have visited during a pretty average
weekend for the Curtis clan but every washable thing
he came home with is going back to the classroom on
Monday smelling of Lenor.
I’ve just had a terrible realisation. Every time the
school bear needs a detox, my son is going to be
‘rewarded’ with the ‘honour’ of bringing him home,
isn’t he?
Lie back Buddy, I’ll get you a
robe and slippers.
Molly’s Guide and newspaper columnist
Sam Curtis lives in Lincoln with her
husband and their two children Lottie, 13
and Louie, 5.
You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: @sammanfa
Instagram: sammanfa1
Facebook: SamCurtisWrites
Snapchat: @sam-manfa
www.mollysguide.co.uk
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