A Year of Blogging: January 18, 2011

Today is Winnie the Pooh Day. I think that's a fun day for the middle of January. January can be such a dull month- at least for those of us who live in colder climates. Christmas seems like it was ages ago, the blustery wind doesn't hold even a promise of spring, and everything outside is gray. The snow, so pretty when it first falls, is now dingy and disgusting. A few renegade dried leaves stubbornly cling to the otherwise bare branches of the trees, but they offer no color. You see the gray bare branches, the white snow, and the gray sky. It can get pretty depressing. Winnie the Pooh is a great way to lift your spirits! I'm sure there are people who do not like Winnie the Pooh, but most people I know like Pooh, at least in some form. It feels like Winnie the Pooh has been a part of my life forever. One of my earliest memories of reading involves Winnie the Pooh. I was three, and my Dad was reading to me. Dad has never been very good about reading out loud, he gets nervous and tongue-tied. Dad was reading a Winnie the Pooh book to me and he said 'Tiger'. I corrected him (I was an editor even then!) and told him "No, Daddy! It's Tigger". I then took the book from him and read it to him. I have always enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh stories. I felt drawn to different characters. I liked Owl because he was so smart. I liked Eeyore because he's the underdog, and I always pull for the underdog. But my favorite of all was Tigger. I can't explain why I have always loved Tigger best. He just goes about the Hundred Acre Wood bouncing and trouncing and having fun. I definately think some of the attraction is that 'He's the only one!'. In the past few years, we've been able to share Winnie the Pooh with Sydney. It has been great introducing her to the characters; hearing another generation giggle as Tigger bounces along. Sydney's nursery was done in Classic Pooh. Pooh is a common nursery theme, but it was a little harder to find Classic Pooh. Thankfully, Target came to our rescue! My mother and I carried the theme through to Laura's baby shower. We decorated everything in sage and lavender (because we didn't know Laura was having a girl until the shower). Laura wanted a picnic- her birthday is in November so she didn't get a lot of outdoor parties. So we had a Winnie the Pooh picnic. Mom rented a tent and put it up in the backyard, she bought little fans that we used as name cards, and each table had a Pooh character on it (we bought a lot of stuffed animals!). There was the Pooh table, the Tigger table, well, you get the idea. We made little signs and put them throughout the yard: a sign pointing below the garage showed you where Rabbit lived, the big maple tree in the yard became Owl's house, and Mom's house was Christopher Robin's house. We found a CD of Kenny Loggin's 'Return to Pooh Corner' and set up the CD player near the entrance to the yard. We had the song playing on a continuous loop throughout the party (it was several years before I could stand to listen to that song again!). The only thing missing was Tigger bouncing on everyone! Soon we will be able to share the joy of Winnie the Pooh with Drew. I am looking forward to that. Winnie the Pooh always makes me feel better, and I'm glad that we can share this timeless classic with another generation. Thank you, A.A. Milne!