The MisAdventures Of Bailey Bear



When my son Bailey was 4 (he's 17 now) he loved to get into everything...And when I say everything I mean just that. I would come downstairs from getting his sister out of her crib or simply turn my back for a minute and I would find all kinds of disasters instigated by Bailey Bear. One time he decided that the fish needed to be fed so he added coffee grounds, ketchup and God only knows what else to their tank. Another time he decorated the carpet, walls and stairs with chocolate syrup... And yet another time while we were all tucked in bed asleep he hunted down the key to the deadbolt and let himself out of the house and up the street to a little girls house. (The deadbolt was put in just for this reason...and so were the motion detectors that we installed right after this incident. ) It was 2 in the morning when he went two houses up, in the dark of night, in his footie pajamas, to woo a girl 2 years his senior. Boy, those police men must have been ready to give me the mother of the year award.  

I certainly could write a book about Bailey and his adventures starting when he began pulling himself up and walking around the house at 6 months old. He was on a mission to seek and destroy. Don't get me wrong though. He was not a bad kid...He was a good kid with bad ideas, fueled by a curiosity that no one could control. Those were fun times....I aged about 20 years in the course of his toddler days.

This is the ant, Flik, from the 1998 movie, "A Bug's Life". Bailey had a 2 foot plastic toy of this little guy. When you moved his hand he would say lines from the movie... One of his sayings was "Hey! Hey!"  That quickly became what Bailey called this little fella. It made him very curious about ants.... Here is a silly poem I wrote back then inspired by very true (and icky) events.



Bailey Bear's Adventures

The ant never knew
when it chittered through the dew
and in the side of the house
found a crack
that it should surely turn back.
The ant never saw,
as on crumbs it began to gnaw,
a little boy hovered
and with two hands covered...
Big blue eyes stared,
the ant was scared
as a set of lips neared.
'I got an ant! He's my pet!'
The words came screaming
as the ants body laid reaming
under the pinch of his fingers
The pain still lingers--
In a matchbox car he's put-
door shut on his foot,
driving what is 200 miles an hour
to a poor little ant.
On to a bowl of milk where the ant sinks
and tries desperately to climb
but Bailey drinks!
All the way down the tunnels
the ants body pummels
and he wonders all the way-
Why at home didn't I stay?

May 2001




As I've said, I could write a book about this kid...His sister Tessa, (two years younger than Bailey and 15 now) would certainly be a leading character too as she tried to keep up with her brother as his side kick. After I wrote this poem Bailey actually helped me made a booklet of it with his own drawings of "hey hey"... That activity kept him busy for a few minutes before he went onto discover the fun of riding a sled down a flight of stairs....He also had many questions about what became of that ant that he ate. There's nothing like teaching a 4 year old about the digestive system when referring to an Ant's life.  I am not sure how any of us got through those crazy toddler years. Now he's learning to drive.......I have no words. I pray a lot.  


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