How to Bath your Bears

After all our adventures, Polar was quite right when she said we were grubby bears who needed baths, so when the weather turned warm and sunny at Easter, we knew what to expect. 

Hanley and I were bathed last summer and we quite liked it, but we also like the smell of nice places we've visited in our fur.  We've also heard of small bears being put in the washing machine then hung out to dry by their ears, so when Polar told us it was bath day, we decided to hide.

Hanley and I jumped out of our bear basket and hid behind cushions on the settee, while Endon decided to climb to the top of the bookcase and tuck in behind a globe.

We didn't do a very good job of hiding, however, and soon Polar had found us.

'Be good bears and take off your pyjamas,' she said.  'There's a nice warm bath waiting for you and some fluffy towels, then you can dry off outdoors in the sunshine.'

'Boo!' we said, even though we weren't heading for the washing machine.  'We like smelling of bear!'

'That's all very well,' replied Polar.  'But you also smell of potting compost, damp caves, coal smoke and, in Hanley Bear's case, cheese and mushroom oatcakes!'  

We thought these were all nice smells, although we had to admit that our fur was starting to get a little bit sticky in places.  

Polar carried us into the kitchen, where we found a bowl of warm, bubbly water waiting for us.  We were brave bears and all jumped in together at first, then we took it in turns to have a good splash about while Polar rubbed our heads and ears to get them properly clean.

We were having lots of fun and would happily have spent all morning in our bath, if we hadn't needed to give ourselves plenty of time to dry properly.

We felt quite cold when we got out of the bowel but, before we could have our nice towels for drying off, Polar ran us some fresh warm water, with no shampoo in, to get all the soap bubbles out of our fur.

Then it was towel time!  Firstly, we were rolled up in a big bath towel and given hugs to get as much water out of our fur as possible.  After that, we went outdoors into the garden where we stretched out in the sunshine on a lovely warm towel, then bounced about on a towel hammock Polar had made using the clothes airer, letting the breeze fluff up our fur.

After a whole day lazing in the sunshine, we were completely dry and very clean, although we smelt of Polar's shampoo rather than bear.  However, I'm sure it won't be too long before we smell of small bear adventures again and, at the moment, it is far too cold and damp for us to have another bath!