Barnaby Bear lived in a cozy cave with his Mama Bear.
He loved to play, eat honey, and cuddle with Mama Bear.
But sometimes, Barnaby Bear had big, big feelings!
One sunny morning, Barnaby wanted to play with his red ball.
"Mama, Mama! Red ball!" he squeaked.
Mama Bear smiled. "Just a minute, Barnaby. I need to tidy up our cave first."
Barnaby wiggled his nose. He wanted the ball NOW!
He stomped his little bear feet. Stomp, stomp, stomp!
He felt… FRUSTRATED! It felt like a prickly bush in his tummy.
"Grrrr," Barnaby growled softly. He didn't mean to, but he was cross.
Mama Bear heard him. She stopped tidying and sat next to Barnaby.
"What's wrong, little bear?" she asked gently.
Barnaby pointed at the red ball. "Ball! Now!"
Mama Bear hugged him tight. "I understand you want the ball right away. But I need just a little time. How about we count to five?"
Barnaby nodded slowly.
"One…" Mama Bear began. Barnaby echoed, "One!"
"Two…" Mama Bear said softly.
"Two!" Barnaby repeated, his eyes on the red ball.
"Three…Four…Five!" They both shouted together.
Mama Bear smiled. "Okay, Barnaby! Let's play!"
Barnaby clapped his paws. But then… Uh oh!
As Mama Bear went to grab the red ball, she accidentally stepped on it!
The ball made a sad squishing sound. The air hissed out.
Barnaby's eyes went wide. The red ball… broken!
Suddenly, a HUGE wave of feeling crashed over Barnaby.
He felt… SAD! Tears welled up in his big bear eyes.
He started to cry. Big, loud sobs shook his furry body.
"Waaaaa! My ball! My red ball is broken!" he wailed.
Mama Bear scooped him up and held him close.
"Oh, Barnaby, I'm so sorry! It was an accident," she whispered.
She rocked him gently, humming a soft bear lullaby.
"It's okay to be sad when something breaks. Let's cry it out."
Barnaby cried and cried, and Mama Bear held him tight.
After a little while, the tears started to slow down.
Barnaby sniffled and wiped his nose with his paw.
Mama Bear kissed his forehead. "Feeling a little better?"
Barnaby nodded, but he still felt a little wobbly.
"Now," Mama Bear said. "Let's think. What can we do?"
Barnaby looked at the sad, deflated red ball.
He thought… and thought…
Then, his eyes lit up!
"We can…fix it!" he exclaimed.
Mama Bear smiled. "That's a great idea! How can we fix it?"
Barnaby ran to his toy box and rummaged through it.
He pulled out a roll of colorful tape.
"Tape!" he announced proudly.
Together, Barnaby and Mama Bear carefully taped up the broken ball.
It wasn't perfectly round anymore, and it had colorful stripes all over it.
But… it still bounced!
Barnaby threw the ball up in the air. Boing! Boing! Boing!
He giggled. "It's a special ball now!"
But after bouncing the ball for 5 minutes, he grew tried. He want to read one of his favorite books.
Barnaby ran and found it under his pillow.
When he started to read, Barnaby started yelling out his favorite parts!
He grew frustrated and felt as if there were not enough words in the book. Barnaby ripped the corner.
Mama Bear grabbed him and said that it is alright, ripping his book meant that he was EXCITED! Mama knew of ways that they could make up for Barnaby being so excited.
"It's time to go to our forest!" Mama shouted. This got Barnaby jumping for joy.
When they reached the forest, Barnaby hopped on Mama and she zoomed through!
However, a big rock stood in Mama Bear's way. This meant that they had to make it through. So she lowered Barnaby and encouraged them both to jump over the rock.
Both mama and baby struggled, so this mean that Barnaby became… DISAPPOINTED! Tears streamed down.
This was a huge challenge for barnaby but that did not mean he should be sad!
Barnaby stopped crying after he began thinking. With the help of the leaves from a large tree, Barnaby started to pick some and toss them in the way to soften their landing. The strategy worked!
He and Mama were able to overcome the hurdle and now they feel… HAPPY!" Yay"
As the sun began to set, Barnaby felt tired but satisfied.
He knew that it's okay to feel all sorts of feelings - frustrated, sad, happy, excited, and even disappointed. These are normal for growing bears
And with Mama Bear by his side, he could handle anything!
He gave Mama Bear a big hug. "I love you, Mama!"
Mama Bear hugged him back. "I love you too, my brave little bear!" and it was all because of that Barnaby grew a love for all feelings!