The Teddy Bear Parade

Teddy Bear Parade Prep

So yesterday was the Teddy Bear Parade at Hank's school and let me tell you, this was no rookie parade. Each kid was required to build a float that they could push or pull by themselves and it had to in some way honor their favorite teddy bear. This was also my first assignment as a mommy and I was not going to let Hank down.

So we sat down early in the week and brainstormed float ideas. Of course, there was no question about which bear to use. The obvious choice was Big Bear. Hank got Big Bear from Uncle Bubba and Big Bear is, well, big.

That decision aside, we moved on to the important task of the actual float. There is absolutely no shortage of rolling equipment in our backyard, but most of the equipment involves steering, so we settled on Hank's wheelbarrow, which he got from his Grandpa Paul. Hank loves his wheelbarrow and is good at maneuvering the wheelbarrow around with his tools and equipment, so I figured he could maneuver it around the parade route.

Finally, we had to come up with a theme. I threw a couple of ideas out at Hank and we agreed on a pumpkin and fall theme.

So here's how you build a float for the Teddy Bear parade:

Step 1: Get your wheelbarrow.

Step 2: Surround it with streamer bunting.

Step 3: Get the Guest of Honor

Step 4: Dress the Guest of Honor as a pumpkin. Yes I knitted the pumpkin hat. You can call me Martha now.

Step 5: Add a frame made out of PVC to prop Big Bear up and keep him in the wheelbarrow. Yes, this involved a trip to Lowe's, measuring and sawing the PVC, gluing the frame together and then duck taping the frame into the wheelbarrow, because we all know that no project is complete without duck tape. (Thank you Dad for that lesson).

Step 6: Have a big fight with your 3 year old as we're walking out the door the morning of the parade because he suddenly decides he doesn't like pumpkins, finally give in and go with a football theme. Yes, the beautiful pumpkin hat that I knitted was a complete waste....

Parade Day


So the parade was hysterical. Here's the line up  before the parade. Notice the creepy twins to Hank's right. They ALWAYS dress the exact same and I've never seen them in anything but smocked dresses with matching bows, socks, and shoes. These girls have a LOT of shoes.

You should be able to pick out Big Bear. If you are unable to do that, then you seriously need to go get your eyes checked.

So finally, the parade begins and they're off. (The parade route was a loop around the playground).

Well, we ran into trouble immediately and I realized I made a tactical error. You see, Hank did fine maneuvering Big Bear around the backyard. What I hadn't anticipated were the 200 screaming parents taking pictures, yelling at the kids, and cheering. It was all just too much of a distraction and Hank couldn't concentrate on his route. So Big Bear didn't even make it around once. Hank took out the cowboy float, the Miss Teddy Bear Parade float (yes, some mother really made a Miss Teddy Bear Parade float), and finally dumped Big Bear out onto one of the 8 LSU football floats. It was chaos. Stuffed animals, streamers, and screaming 3 year olds everywhere. Here are a few pics of the carnage (of course, I continued to take pics):

Finally, Big Bear was removed from the parade and Hank walked the parade route with his teacher, Miss Mickie.

Hank wasn't too upset. here are a few more parade pics:

All things considered, the parade was still a big hit. The kids had fun, the teddy bears had fun and the parents loved it all. When we got home that afternoon, Hank disappeared into his room for a few moments and came out with a very small teddy bear. He held it up to me and said, "Mommy, next Teddy Bear Parade, we'll use this teddy bear." I wholeheartedly agreed.