Today is Family Day

Chance  (left) and Frankie (centre) and me (Charles) love to play Snakes and Ladders.

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's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too!

Know what? Today is a holiday. It's Family Day. I know what a family is. It's us! Our family is me and Chance and Frankie and Grandpa James. We all live together in a nice house on Sparkle Road. That's in Olde Sandwich Towne. Olde Sandwich Towne is in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. Windsor is in O Canada.

We got aunties and uncles and nanas and gramps, too!

I don't have to go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre today. We get to stay home and play! We play Snakes & Ladders. Frankie rolled a five. He's gonna move his marker five spaces. I help him count to five. That's easy! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! I have to help Chance count and move his marker for him. Chance is so newborn he tries to lick his yellow marker. I have to say, "My son! Take that out of your mouth! You can't eat yellow markers, my son! Yellow markers aren't in Canada's Food Guide."

Know what's in Canada's Food Guide? Gingerbread persons. We're gonna bake some gingerbread persons today.  I love to bake them. I love to eat them, too! I'm a very good cook. Grandpa James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is too newborn to help but he thinks he's helping. Grandpa James says Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir of Stirring. Frankie is a good helper. Frankie is the Bearon of Baking, you know.

 Chance has red mittens. He wears them his red mittens all day long. He wears his red mittens at night when he sleeps, too. Chance is so newborn he thinks if he wears red mittens it will snow. I have red mittens, you know. I only wear my  mittens when I go outside to play in the snow. Frankie has red mittens, too.

Sometimes Chance gets his games mixed up. Look at Chance. Chance climbed into the Snakes and Ladders box. Chance wants to play Hide & Seek. Chance thinks we can't see him when he closes his eyes. Grandpa James says all newborn cubs think they're invisible when they close their eyes. I have to say, "My son! Come out of the Snakes & Ladders box this instance!" Chance can't get out. He makes little squawky noises. I have to help him. Chance is a handful.

We bake gingerbread persons on Family Day. We love to make gingerbread persons but it's more fun to eat them all up! Gingerbread persons are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

 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! Oh, wait! Grandpa James is hollering for Frankie, too! "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my 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. Do fun stuff with your family today. Then you can bake gingerbread persons and have a tea party and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play Snakes & Ladders! We can have a tea party, too! Okay! Over and out!"

Family Day

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. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Today is Family Day. Family Day is a holiday for everybody who lives in Ontario. That includes Chance and me. We live in Ontario. I know where Ontario is. Ontario is in O Canada, our home and native land. Know what? Chance and me are Princes of Ontario. James always reminds us when he wakes us up every morning. He says we're sons of Windsor, too.

I know what a family is. Families live together in a home. Families love each other. I love Chance and I love James, too. They're my family. They love me. We look after each other and help. That's what families do. Know what James tells us? Home is where they have to let you in. He thinks that's funny but it's true, you know. I'm sure glad we have a home. James says, "Houses are made of brick and stone but homes are made of love alone." He's pretty smart, you know.

Love is lots and lots of things. James always says he loves us 44 litres. That's a bushel and a peck. I know how much that is. It's baskets and baskets of love. Know what? That's a lot of love!

Love is when we cook peanut butter and licorice sandwiches together  in the kitchen. Love is when we help make chocolate pudding and get to lick the spoon. Oh! Wait! Love is bath time when we splash and make bubbles with our purple bubble bath soap and drive our fire trucks in the tub, too! Love is bendy straws for our Canada Dry when we're sick. Love is  bedtime stories, and bedtime prayers and hugs and kisses and Smarties and good-night dreams. Best of all, love is surprises. As long as there are surprises there will always be love.

Love is even when I have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what I did. I hate the Time Out Chair. I hate to think. Thinking hurts. I don't go there very often but when I do, I know James wants me to be a better cub.

Love is when we all curl up together in the comfy green chair and sing silly songs and say silly poems. Love is when we watch Caillou on Radio-Canada. Oh! Wait! Love is playing Hide and Seek and riding our bicycles up and down Sparkle Road. Love is cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows in it. Love is laughing when we're happy and great big hugs when we're sad and our hearts hurt real bad. 

Know what? We're really lucky. We got more family. We got Uncle D and Auntie A and Lulu and Lily. They're all part of our family even though they live far away. We take VIA Rail to visit them.

They live way past Toronto. That's really far. Their house is farther away than the moon. I can see the moon when I look out the window at night but I can't look out the window and see Toronto.


Good thing we can love near AND far! We love them all a lot. Love is hugs and tea parties, you know. It's when we paint pictures together and make tattoos with Smarties. Love is when we ice skate together on the lake.  I'm glad I got a family to love. I'd be a really lonely bear cub if I didn't have a family. Then I'd be sad.

 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. Love your family. Share your Smarties and your root beer.  Okay! Over and out!"

Family Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He forgets where he put his mitts. He's really old, too. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. He must be 20 years old!  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? Today is Family Day. It's a holiday. I know what a family is. It's me and Chance and James and you. Families do things together like make gingerbread beings and snow people. We read books together. Families laugh together and before bedtime we pray together. Families give each other lots of hugs and kisses on our noses and give us Buckley's Cough Mixture when we're sick with a cold. Buckley's tastes awful, but it works.  Families share wallermelons and Smarties and everything!

Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Who's my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That's us! Charles and Chance. I'm a handsome bear cub!  I'm a Son of Windsor. I'm a Prince of Ontario! So is Chance! We'll go find  James and he can tickle our ears and kiss our noses! We gotta go! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Be nice to your family! Do something special for Family Day. Over and out!"