Surgery!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

I got really sick and I had to go to hospital. Dr. Quoc said I had to have surgery so I could get well. There are lots of things to do before surgery.  I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. At hospital I got a wristband with my name and birthday on it. I know my birthday. It's July 1st. That's Canada's birthday, too! Then I had to put on a hospital gown. Mine had bears on it. Then I had to wear a special hat.

This is the operating theatre.

The doctors and nurses asked me questions before the operation. Dr. Quoc is a surgeon. He opens you up and fixes what's wrong inside. That's a very important job.

This is the IV bottle. The tube goes in my arm.

We walked down the hall to the operating theatre. I laid down on the table and the nurse held my paw. She put an IV in me. One of the nice doctors put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room. Then a nice orderly pushed my bed upstairs to my own room. Grandpa James, Frankie and Chance were waiting for me. I had to stay there for two days. Every morning Dr. Quoc came to see me.

The nurse let me listen to my heart with her stethoscope.  My heart says "lub-a-dub-lub-a-dub." The third morning Dr. Quoc said I could go home. Know what? I was glad to go home. I was glad to sleep in my own bed.

This is a picture of our house on Sparkle Road. I drew the picture all by myself.

Know what? Grandpa James says, "There's no place like home." That is really true, you know.

 Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. If you get sick, go see Doctor Quoc. He can make you well. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play doctor together!  Okay! Over and out!"

My Trip to Hospital

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He only drinks chocolate owls' milk in his bottle 'cuz he doesn't have any teeth! Chance takes off his diaper when we're not watching him and then he climbs way high on things. Then he can't get down and he makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's stuck. I say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" I have to rescue him. He's a handful!

Chance and me are at Hotel-Dieu Grace. That's a hospital. I know what hospitals are. Hospitals are places to go when you're sick. Know what? I had an accident this morning. I fell off my blue bike, the one with the Canada flag on it. I got hurt. I tried to be brave but I cried 'cuz I really hurted.

 Good thing I was wearing my brain bucket. That's what Grandpa James calls my safety helmet. I had to see the doctor and have a CAT Scan. I thought it was a kitten. I like kittens. Cats make nice friends. A CAT Scan isn't a kitten at all! A CAT Scan is a machine that looks inside of me to see what's wrong.

I had to drink a whole bottle of a banana-flavoured shake before the CAT Scan. The CAT Scan can see the shake inside of me. I'd like to look inside my buddies and friends! Wow! That's a super power I'd like to have! It's better than being invisible!

Chance and me are sitting on the CAT Scan. It's like a big bed with a doughnut on top! I l-o-v-e doughnuts, don't you? If it was a real doughnut I'd eat it all up!



I have to lie down and be really, really still 'cuz the doughnut is going to look inside of me and see if I'm okay. Chance wants to ride with me but he can't. It's just one cub at a time. He can have his turn later.

Look at me! I'm flat on my back. I'm holding still. The bed is moving! I'm riding right into the doughnut hole! The CAT Scan can talk! A nice voice says, "Take a deep breath and hold it." I can do that! I'm five, you know. I can follow instructions. Ask Miss Jackie. She's my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. She puts lots of red stars and Canada flags and yellow happy faces on my work 'cuz I'm smart.

Then the voice says, "Breathe." I can do that, too! This is easy. I'm not afraid at all. The nice lady put a band on my head so it doesn't wiggle while I'm inside the CAT Scan. "Look out! Good citizens! Charles the Bear Cub comin' through!

We wait until the nice lady says I'm gonna be fine. We can go home, now. That's the bestest news, you know. Hotel-Dieu Grace is a nice hospital but it's more fun to be at home on Sparkle Road in Olde Sandwich Towne. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in O Canada.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Ride your bike carefully. Always wear your brain bucket. If you get hurt, go to Hotel-Dieu Grace and the nice doctors, nurses and all the other kind people will help you get well. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can ride bikes together! If we get hurt we'll go to Hotel-Dieu Grace and ride in the CAT Scan! Okay! Over and out!"

Visiting Hospital in T.O.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. Chance doesn't talk, yet. He makes little squeaky noises when he's happy.  I look after Chance, too. He climbs way high on things and can't get down. Then he makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to help him get down. Chance is a handful! 


Know what? We're in Toronto. We come here on the train. VIA Rail is a fast way to travel. It's fun to ride on the train. Toronto is pretty far from our house. It's four hours away by train. We sing songs on the train. We like to sing. I know a song about trains.

The railroad comes through the middle of the house
The railroad comes through the middle of the house
The trains all come through the middle of the house
Since the company bought the land.


The railroad comes through the middle of the house
In and out of the middle of the house
Right smack dab through the middle of the house
Where the parlour used to be.


The railroad comes through the middle of the house
The railroad comes through the middle of the house
The trains all come through the middle of the house
And here comes the Five-oh-Nine! Whoo! Whoo!

Chance and me and our buddy James live in Windsor. Chance and me are sons of Windsor, you know. Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit. Detroit isn't in O Canada. It's in the Knighted States. Detroit is on the other side of the river. We can go there on the bridge or through the tunnel. We need a passport to go there.

James says  six million people live in Toronto. That's an awful lot of people. I don't know why they would want to live that far away from Windsor.

When we come to T.O. we visit the hospital. I know what a hospital is. It's the big building where sick people go to get well. I could work at a hospital, you know. I could be a doctor or a nurse or a dietician, you know.

James says, "Mind your manners in hospital, my sons. " We use our inside voices at hospital. We don't shout. We don't race in the hallways.  We're not racists! We walk slow and carefully and we look both ways. Lots of people use the hallways. Some of them are visitors. Some of them are sick. We are cautious. That's 'cuz we're polite bear cubs.

We visit with Denise and Christina and all the nice people at the bariatric clinic. They measure James and he stands on a machine that tells how many kilos he weighs. They ask him questions and write down his answers. I think it's a test.

James is doing pretty good, you know. He used to be sick but now he can ride bikes with us and swim and walk and run, too. He lost 75 kilos. I don't know where they went when he lost them, do you?

I know a poem about Toronto. It goes like this-

I don't wanna
Live in Tranna.
'THE END.

I always say, "The end, " so you know I'm done with my poem. I'm a pretty smart bear cub.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to your friends and neighbours. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun together! Okay! Over and out!"

Riding in the Ambulance

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is very forgetful and old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.   I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We got to ride in an ambulance! James was sick. He couldn't talk.  I called 911. That's a good number to know. An ambulance come to our house. I know what an ambulance is. It's a truck for sick people. The nice paramedics put him on a stretcher and took him to hospital. Chance and me went, too. The siren is really loud!

Hospital is a busy place with doctors and nurses and lots of other good citizens who help. I could work in a hospital. I'd be Dr. Charles. I know how to put the steadyscope on my ears and tell people to take a deep breath. All the good citizens helped James feel better and then we all went home.

We get to put another sticker on the calendar, today. Know what? It's only six days before Santa and Merry Christmas come to our house!

This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Good-bye for now! Be good citizens! Don't get sick, okay? Over and out!"

The Telephone

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live with my buddy James on Sparkle Road.That's in Olde Sandwich Towne in the City of Windsor.  I look after James 'cuz he's old and forgetful. He lost the phone. I found it--James put it in the fridge!

Look at me. I know how to use the telephone. I can call my friends Tanner--he's a big 'ole yeller dog--and my friend Cassidy--he's a bunny rabbit. If my buddy,  James, gets sick I can call 911 and the ambulance will take him to hospital. Phones are good things even though we can't eat them and they don't make good pets.

Do you hear that?  James is shouting, "Who's a handsome bear cub? Who's a Son of Windsor? Who's a Prince of Ontario?" That's me! Charles! I gotta go. I'm gonna get my ears tickled and I'm gonna laugh right out loud. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Learn how to use the phone so you can talk to your friends and call 911 for emergencies. Bye for now."