Something for the Weekend: A trip to Build-A-Bear

Well, Littlest has just had her birthday and with it came a new trauma resulting in me almost being the WORST MUM EVER, again. We’d bigged up taking her to a show, then the show was cancelled and we didn’t find out till the night before and it caused tears and… well, there’s only one thing that makes everything better in our world, and that’s a trip to Build-A-Bear. So… yesterday, we trooped off to Liverpool to celebrate Littlest’s 8th birthday (8, already!).

I don’t think I expected the store to be quite so busy but people were out buying a personalised bear for Father’s Day. (I particularly liked the Curly Fisherman bear and Marble Monkey in his Liverpool kit). One little boy caught my eye. He was so very excited about recording a special message for his daddy (to be placed inside the bear) and that capturing of a moment made me feel happy. The days are rushing away and it’s the diary entries, the recordings, the photos that are becoming increasingly important to me. I hope that that daddy enjoyed his special bear today.

Anyway, before I get too sentimental, from the moment we stepped into the busy Liverpool store the staff were attentive and fabulous. Tina took us on our Build-A-Bear adventure and helped Littlest to choose from the new limited edition Ice Cream Bears. Littlest went for the rather pink Strawberry Cheesecake Bear (called ‘Petal’) and I especially liked that it smelt so delicious. It reminded me of my own childhood and the Strawberry Shortcake dolls I loved so very much. And, I had to buy her the Ice Cream Cone Bear Carrier, because it is simply ridiculously cute!

After the ‘Choose Me’ stage, we moved to ‘Hear Me’ where Littlest chose a singing birthday sound, then came ‘Stuff Me’ and ‘Fluff Me’ and then ‘Dress Me’. At each and every stage Littlest interacted with a member of staff and they all had time for her. Each different host had Littlest spinning on the spot, jumping, chanting rhymes and a one stage I was rubbing a tiny satin heart before making a wish for my little girl. (Oh, I love the innocence of it all so much).

I know some people are cynical and will be whispering ‘commercialism’ within my earshot, but for me Build-A-Bear is about being allowed to be a child and to bring alive a special bear chosen from the hundreds on offer. The atmosphere in store was full of positive energy and enthusiasm. The staff we interacted with oozed it and I honestly feel that credit should be given for high quality service (thus, this blog post!). Whether or not they did, the staff in Liverpool’s Build-A-Bear appeared to love their jobs and their enthusiasm rubbed off on me too. I smiled all the way around the store.

As it was her birthday, Littlest was given a huge special birthday sticker and she was helped to stand on a block while the entire shop sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Strangers sang loudly, Littlest giggled, she felt so very special.

I’ve been low recently, fed up of gumpy, opinionated grownups. So I’ve decided that I’d quite like to live in a Build-A-Bear world, full of nice people who smile ALL the time, people who I could NEVER ever imagine shouting or being nasty. My world needs more nice people in it.

But, for now, Build-A-Bear remains my happy place.