Getting Ready for Merry Christmas

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five.  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 our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

We have an important job to do. We have to get ready for Merry Christmas. She will be here in seven days. We have to decorate our tree and bake cookies. First we have to have Christmas music. We have special Christmas music to listen to. Nana Ruth sings the songs. She put them on an album so everyone can sing them. Nana Ruth knows lots of songs about Christmas.

You can get Nana Ruth's Christmas album right here, you know.

Nana Ruth lives in St. Andrews by-the Sea. That's pretty far from our house.We can go there on the train or in Uncle Rob's truck. It takes three days. Know what?  Because we have her album it's like she's right here in the living room with us. We sing along 'cuz we know all the songs by heart.

1. Feels Like Christmas 
2. O Come O Come Emanuel/God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman 
3. Christmas All the Time  
4. Precious Promise 
5. King of Kings 
6. What Child Is This 
7. Christmas In the Trenches  
8. It Wasn’t His Child 
9. Away In a Manger 
10.Childish Eyes 
11.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/ I Saw Thee Ships (Instrumental)

12.Christmas Morn

So we have the music. Next we have to make hot cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows on top. Frankie and me get to drink out of mugs. Chance is newborn. He drinks his cocoa from his bottle.

Grandpa James brings out the tree. He says it's a  rota picea canadensis Grandpa James makes up stories. It's a Canadian Tire Spruce tree. Grandpa James says that it came from the forest but I know where Christmas trees come from. They come from Canadian Tire. I'm five. Grandpa James can't fool me!

Now, we have to untangle the silver garland. It's a big job!

Frankie and Chance are putting on the silver garland. Chance licks it. He can't eat the garland! It's not one of the four food groups!

When we hang something on the tree, we say something we're thankful for. It's a special thing to do. Our tree is almost all decorated. Uncle Kit and Auntie Kim surprise us. They bring us something special to hang on our tree.  They brought little boxes of Smarties.

Next we put the presents under the tree. We get to open one on Christmas Eve and the others on Christmas morning, after breakfast.

 There are only seven more days until Merry Christmas gets here. I will tell you the Christmas story soon.

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! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Granpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. 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 decorate the tree together! 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!"

Guardian Angel Kitties

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. He's so little he doesn't even have any teeth or a tail!  I look after Chance, too. He climbs way up high on thinks and then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises, 'cuz he's afraid. Chance is a handful! 

Chance and me love to play games after lunch. Games are fun. Our favourite board game is Snakes and Ladders. I have to watch Chance. He tries to eat the markers.

 We play other games, too. We play Hide and Seek. That's the funnest game of all. I hide my eyes and count to 100 like this--one elephant, two elephant, three elephant. I count 100 elephants and then I holler, "Here I come! Ready or not!

Chance is supposed to hide while I count  the elephants and then I am supposed to go look for him. I found him right away. Chance climbed up high. He was hiding in the china cabinet. He thinks I can't see him through the glass.  Chance is a wee little thing and he's not a very good hider. Know what? He thinks if he closes his eyes, he's invisible but he's not. Chance also thinks the reason there's glass on the TV is to keep the little people from falling out  and landing on the floor.

We play Hide and Seek a lot. It makes us sleepy. When we get sleepy, we take naps. Naps are good. We take the pillows off the chesterfield and make a comfy little place to sleep on the living room floor, right in front of the TV fireplace. We get to nap in our Santa toques.


Chance makes little snory noises when he's asleep. He's a very noisy little cubby. Know what? When I fell asleep, I had a dream. I dreamt that guardian angel kitties came to talk to me. I didn't  know angels were kitty cats. I thought guardian angels were bear cubs, like us. The guardian angel kitties had wings. They were white and soft like newborn snow.

The guardian angel kitties told me to be good and kind so that Santa would leave me presents under the Christmas tree. I try to be good and kind everyday, even if Santa doesn't give me anything. That's what good citizens do and I am going to be the best citizen on Sandwich Street.

When I woke up, there were no guardian angel kitties anywhere. I wonder if they're real or just a dream. I'll ask James. He's smart. He knows everything. He's so old he remembers the first Christmas. He will know if guardian angels are kitties.

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. Then you can eat gingerbread beings and drink cocoa with little baby marshmallows.

 Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can nap and dream about guardian angel kitties and wait for Santa and Merry Christmas together! Okay! Over and out!"

Our Christmas Tree

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! He climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to get him down. I always say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Then I have to go after him.

Know what? Merry Christmas is coming! We put stickers on the calendar every day. There are 20 days until Merry Christmas gets here. That's a lot of days but they go really fast. We saw Santa at the Santa Parade. He shouts, "Joyeux Noel! Merry Christmas!" Chance and me got our picture tooken by a reporter from the Windsor Star.

Christmas is a special time of year. We get to drink cocoa with marshmallows and sing carols and put up the Christmas tree. Chance and me wear our Santa hats. We have a Canadian Tire spruce tree. It's a nice little tree. We put decorations on the tree. I have to watch Chance 'cuz he tries to eat the ornaments. They're not good to eat. They're not in the Canada Food Guide, you know.

Oh, no! Look at Chance! He climbed up in the tree and now he's stuck. I have to help him get down. Chance is not a Christmas ornament. Santa is supposed to sit on top of the tree, not Chance! Santa sits on top. We put presents underneath the tree. We're Santa's little helpers.

We know a song about Merry Christmas.
Christmas, Christmas time is near
Time for toys and time for cheer
We've been good, but we can't last
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast
Want a plane that loops the loop
Me, I want a hula hoop
We can hardly stand the wait
Please Christmas, don't be late.

\
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. Do good deeds. Be nice to your friends and neighbours. Tell Santa you've been good. Then you can drink cocoa with marshmallows.  Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and sing carols. We can wait for Merry Christmas together. Okay! Over and out!"

The Big Storm

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? Last night there was a big storm all around our house. The wind blew down big 'ole trees everywhere. The rain came down so hard our neighbours' homes were full of water!

We woke up at midnight 'cuz of the lightning and the thunder. We were afraid. James made us cocoa to drink and we all sat on the balcony watching the storm. It was raining so hard we couldn't see the cars or the house next door. There was lots of thunder and lightning.

Chance doesn't like thunder. He puts his paws over his ears and makes little squawky noises. I don't like thunder very much. James held onto us real tight and then we weren't afraid any more. Every time we heard a thunder clap James would say, "There goes the 'tater wagon!" It was a bad, bad storm. We even had a tornado! I know what tornadoes are. They're winds that go around in circles. They go faster than Chance and me when we go 'round and 'round in James' big 'ole green swivel chair. Tornadoes are dangerous. They can hurt people and animals, too. Their behaviour is not nice. Tornadoes should have to sit on the Time Out Chair, you know.

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. Don't be afraid of thunder and lightening. You can sit on the balcony with us and drink cocoa when there's a tornado. James will hold us all real tight and we won't have to be afraid! Okay! Over and out!"

The Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. 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. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? This is me with the gang from the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. We're on a field trip, having fun. It's okay to say field trip even if there is no field. Miss Jackie is our teacher. We're learning all about our neighbourhood. I know what a neighbourhood is. It's the citizens who live in houses and apartments around my house. There are all kinds of neighbours. Good neighbours give us Smarties.  Some neighbours are nosy. They have to sit in the Time Out Chair and think about what they did, you know.

Did you hear that? Miss Jackie says it's time for us to line up and go Tim Horton's. We get to drink cocoa! I l-o-v-e cocoa. If I had pockets I'd put some cocoa in there and take it home for Chance and James. I sure hope I grow pockets when I'm older. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Know you neighbours. Be nice to bear cubs. Over and out!"

Sometimes Thinking is Fun

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He forgets things like his keys and his mitts. He's really 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.

Chance thinks he's hiding from me 'cuz he's hiding his eyes and he can't see me. Know what? I can see him. He's in the corner! He's making little squeaky noises, so I know he's happy. When he makes squawky noises, he's hungry or upset or his diaper is full of poo. Chance takes his diaper off all the time. He really is a handful, you know!

I'm sitting on the chesterfield. It's comfy. Know what I'm doing here? I'm thinking. Thinking on the chesterfield is not the same as when I have sit on the Time Out Chair and think. That's where I have to think about my behaviour. Thinking on the chesterfield is nice. I'm thinking about what we're going to do today. Maybe we will go outside and play in the snow. We can make snow people and snow angels. We can build a fort and throw snowballs. Know what? Chance eats the snow.  James says the snow is dirty and it's not in the Canada Food Guide. It looks nice and white. Snow tastes yummy but not as yummy as orange sherbet.

Oh! Wait! Did you hear that?  James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Come here my Sons of Windsor! Come here my Princes of Ontario.  Who wants cocoa with marshmallows and gingerbread beings?" That's us! Charles and Chance. We're handsome cubs. We're Sons of Windsor, too!  want cocoa. We l-o-v-e cocoa. We love gingerbread beings. Well, I do. Chance just licks them. Okay! We gotta go find James so he can tickle our ears and our tummies and kiss our noses. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Don't eat things that aren't in the Canada Food Guide. Drink your cocoa and eat your gingerbread beings so you can grow up to be strong and healthy like us! Bye for now! Over and out!"

Christmas Toques

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He forgets where he puts his shoes. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. He must be at least 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? We get to wear our Christmas toques when we play! We play Santa Tag. I holler, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and chase Chance around the coffee table and the Canadian Tire Christmas spruce. Chance makes little squeaky noises. That means he's having fun. Sometimes his toque falls down over his face. Then he can't see. Chance thinks he's invisible but he's not. "Look out, my son! I can see you!" I shout and chase him around the chesterfield. I holler, "I'm gonna get you!" When we're tired of playing Santa Tag we sit on  James' lap in the big green chair and he tells us stories about the olden days and sings songs until we all fall asleep.

When we wake up we get to cook cocoa. We cook it on the stove. I l-o-v-e cocoa. It's yummy and sweet. That's two of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. James tucks us into bed after our prayers. He kisses our noses and whispers, "Good night my Sons of Windsor. Good night my Princes of Ontario." This is Charles the very sleepy bear cub saying, "Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. Over and out!"