Building a Mystery

Since we were trying to keep Shae's birthday celebrations small this year, what with Easter being only a couple of days later, we decided that the big "showcase" event was going to be a trip to the Build-A-Bear Workshop to, um, build a bear. Or whatever. There are all kinds of different animals you can make there. Shae wanted to make a monkey but we actually said NO because, believe it or not, it actually IS possible to have too many stuffed monkeys in the house. Who knew?

Here she is, working the pedal on the fluffer-stuffer machine, or whatever the heck they call it. I didn't ask, since I was on camera duty. (Also: look at those skinny little chicken legs my kid has! I swear to God that we feed her. I think she has a tapeworm or something, because nobody who eats PB&J like she does should be so spindly.)

Picking out a heart to put inside her animal. She chose a soft grey cat. I am surprised that she didn't go with Hello Kitty, but she named this new kitty Owen. This is very sweet, and will also become ironic in a few short paragraphs.

I think the little air-fluffer machines are kind of cool, and I wish I had something similar for blow-drying Shae's hair, because she doesn't like to sit still even for a second.

Now we're getting Owen dressed. Here she is putting on a pair of underpants. YES. At Build-A-Bear, you can buy UNDERPANTS for your critters. I think this is simultaneously brilliant and a little bit horrifying. But the important thing to note here is that my daughter dressed her "boy" cat in Hello Kitty panties.

We probably made out better than some of the parents at Build-A-Bear that day -- we got one animal and one outfit (Hello Kitty pajamas), plus panties and slippers (both also Hello Kitty). We only spent $40, and they threw in a free Easter basket. Some people were walking around shellshocked while their kids were throwing around fairy princess dresses and magic wands and crowns and glass slippers and houses and whatever the hell all else. It's kind of chaotic in there.

All in all, though, it wasn't a bad time. It was super-crowded at the mall -- when did Good Friday become this huge shopping day, anyway? -- and it was hot, and Shae didn't really grasp what was going on, but she loves that kitty, and I suppose that is the important part anyway.