Title: Oh My Baby Bear!
Author/Illustrator: Audrey Wood
Reviewed by: Shari
Baby Bear is dressed, fed, bathed, and put to bed by his parents, but one day they tell him they're too busy, and that he has to do each task himself. He messes up every task, his parents say "Oh my baby bear, let me show you how," and show him. The next day he gets up and does everything himself, plays by himself all day long, bathes himself, then puts himself to bed and tried to fall asleep. His parents come in, so impressed, decide to call him Little Bear instead of Baby Bear, and let him stay up and eat pie.
The story is supposed to celebrate milestones, but what's bizarre to me is how the parents just send him off, and only help him after he's in trouble:
"...you must dress yourself."
"Baby bear tried, but nothing seemed to fit."
"...you must feed yourself."
"Baby bear tried, but what a mess he made!"
When it came to, "...you must bathe yourself," I was afraid it would say "Baby bear tried, but he drowned." (Instead, he gets soap in his eyes.)
The second bizarre thing is how the parents suddenly have no time for him, and Baby Bear becomes completely autonomous in a day, and this is treated as a good thing - "The next morning Baby Bear could hardly wait. He dressed himself, ate his breakfast, played all day long, and gave himself a bath. Then... he climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep."
Oh, my baby bear!
[I wonder if they read this around the fire at Attachment Parenting Camp. -ed.]
Sweet! I want to know their secret!
Seriously, though, this reminds me that my daughter has suddenly ... I don't want to say regressed, but, when we go for a walk, she wants to be carried instead of walking herself. Lately, when eating her cereal, she wants me to feed it to her rather than using the spoon herself... I am sure it is just a blip for some reason (she's just about 2), but it is really strange to me.
We're at the "about two" blip and the EXACT same thing is happening - the little man refuses to feed himself (which he's quite good at) or do any of the other things he used to do for himself.
Where to I get this baby Bear training manual?
"I wonder if they read this around the fire at Attachment Parenting Camp."
Heh. My first reaction was, "I wonder if this is subversive Ezzo propaganda?" I need to stop reading anecdotes about those guys, but they're like a car wreck: I can't look away.