Time to smell the cheese.

Oh, Bear, I've got so many chores I have to finish.
It's like someone grabbed my head and gave a squeeeeeze... really hard!

We were digging into a wheel of gouda last night when this song, "Take Time to Smell the Cheese," came to mind. It's from our family favorite Disney Channel series, Bear in the Big Blue House.


Really, how can you not love a song that advises, "Everything is bettah when you smell the feta"?

B in the BBH premiered while I was on maternity leave with Katie, and the show still reminds me of those precious days with my itty-bitty baby Katie and 1-year-old Ryan. As the kids got a little older, they became full-fledged Bear fans, and we had Bear shoes, Bear backpacks, Bear birthday cakes, you name it.

On long road trips, Bear came along, both as a stuffed animal and as a cassette. Whenever I picture our holiday drives to Arkansas, the soundtrack for those memories is Bear. "Brush Brush Bree," "Look at You Now" and "The Bear Cha-Cha-Cha" kept us company as we traversed those country hills. At home, Bear songs were our "spoonful of sugar" as we did chores: "Come on, everybody, let's clean up the house!"

It'd been a long time since I'd thought about those old songs, so when Katie grabbed some cheese out of the fridge, I was a little surprised to hear Bear and his pal Tutter singing in my head. Thanks to YouTube, the pair were soon singing on my laptop, too.

There I was, fresh off a long day of giving finals, grading papers, and stressing over who had or had not turned in all their work, and I was singing along with an orange bear and a blue mouse!

There's nothing here that can't wait until tomorrow;
A little rest will put your mind at ease!

Yep, I definitely needed to take time to smell the cheese.