The Battle of the Bears

We were out and about on the town the other day doing a bit of baby cot shopping. I use the word 'we' fairly loosley as Hayley and I picked it, but Hayley's mom paid for it. Thanks mom! But it was on this trip that I discovered the battle of the bears. It goes something like this: In the red corner we have Winnie the Pooh. The good natured, gluttonous bear who sees everything in a forrest Gump kind of way. He has lots of friends, adventures and a story line to his life. He is the defending champion. In the blue corner we have Paddington Bear. He is shy, retiring and (as I can remember my story books) spends most of his time in transit. The narrative of his life is interrupted by the fact he is often lost. He is not quite as one dimensional as the Pooh, being a complex character, internalising his pain in a everyman's meloncholic daze. He knows more than he lets on. Five seconds in the baby shops around here will tell you who is the smackdown champion. But, in the good tradition of challenging the conventinal wisdom, I want to put in a vote of confidence in the underdog/bear. He is a bear wearing boots, a bear with a suitcase, a bear on the move. There's also the bounus that his paddington coat actually covers his bare bits, whereas the Pooh flaunts all for the word to see. What sort of message is this sending to the kiddies?

So I've got my reserachers out looking for a bit more Paddignton merchandise to address the imbalance. Why go the cliche story book version, when you can get the equally addorable but gritty "life is pain princess!"* reality of the bears life?

(* - The Princess Bride)