Care Bear Stare!

4, 3, 2, 1 STARE!
Who doesn't remember the Care Bears stare? Well, just in case, here's a sample.

(We haven't seen this one. I'm still confused sometimes with the series timeline, but that's unrelated here.)

Recently Abi was talking to me about Halloween - again. Usually this comes up in the context of "can I have a treat from trick or treating with D?"  She was telling me about D being scared of monsters (he insisted on returning home after a few houses because he was mightily afraid of the decorations; Abi continued on for another hour).  I asked if she was afraid of monsters and she replied (this time) that she just gives them the Care Bears Stare! She then proceeded to demonstrate from her car seat. I couldn't look to see, but I can imagine her straining to push her tummy out from the straps.

Lately she uses the Stare a lot when she's playing.  She also uses it when she doesn't like something Mommy and Daddy are asking her to do.  Then we become the "monsters" and she Stares us down. But much like her Ogre face (which we still see and have to stifle our laughter), this is hilarious to watch!  She puffs out her tummy and with great determination Stares us down. "STARE!"

I'm hoping she'll maintain her fearless self-determination over the years, but balanced with the Care Bears caring for others of course.  I like to remind her that the Care Bears Stare involves caring - that caring is the source of their "stare" power.
Who thought I'd be using Care Bears as a teaching tool?? Not me.