T has been hankering after bringing Barnaby Bear home from school for weeks, nay months now, and finally at Easter it was her dubious honour to bring said bear home for the holidays. Whilst T’s delight was obvious mine was rather more hidden as I struggled up the hill from school laden down with Barnaby, his brother, his suitcase and the two diaries in which we would be expected to record our adventures.

The responsibility of having the class Bear was enormous and I spent the evening reading through the diary to see what other families had done with Barnaby – however I stopped when I got to the child that had taken him to New Zealand! I’m afraid that the competitive Mum took over and I began to think of ways to top this amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip.  So, we went to Legoland! Not quite the same I know but I figured that given the choice where would a 5 year old want to go – see, there is method to my seeming madness!

I know that it shouldn’t have played a part in deciding what we did for the holidays but I’m afraid it did. So, I duly saved vouchers from from the cereal boxes, booked a hotel and off we set.  Barnaby and Joshua (his brother) safely ensconced in our suitcase.  Anyway we had a brilliant time, saw the Star Wars Lego, went round the mini land, even got the children (and Barnaby, of course) on to a ‘ride’.  However the responsibility of having the class bear with us was almost overwhelming at times, the cry of ‘where’s Barnaby?’ and ‘have you got Barnaby? became the quotes of the day, indeed Steve and I were almost more concerned with Barnaby’s whereabouts than with T or J’s!

Barnaby returned to school after the Easter holidays with a full diary and I am heartily looking forward to seeing what the next parent does with the class bear!