Austin. Mom. Blog.

It is only a week away from Christmas and my boys keep insisting they want a puppy for Christmas. My husband came up with the idea of going to build-a-bear workshop for them to build their own puppy. I thought it was a great and cute idea. So, we headed over to Lakeline Mall today for them to pick out a puppy. They each picked out something that was not a puppy. As long as they were happy, it was fine with me. My oldest son picked out a longhorn. He put a Texas Longhorns shirt on it and named it Longy. My youngest son picked out Alvin the Chipmunk. Alvin was already dressed so we didn’t need to pick out any clothes for him. At Build-a-Bear workshop the concept behind the experience is to get your own little pet stuffed animal. First you pick out which animal you want. Next you pick out a heart to put in the animal while it’s being stuffed. I’m not sure if every employee does it the same way, but the lady who helped us told each of my sons to tap the heart on his head to make him smart, to tap the heart to his stomach to make sure he doesn’t go hungry, to close his eyes and make a wish, and finally give the heart a kiss. The heart then goes into the animal. I thought it was all so adorable. After this process you take your animal to the washing station to get it clean. There’s a scrub provided and the kids pretend to wash him or her. Then you pick out any clothes you might want. There are items that include shirts, shorts, pants, outfits, hats, shoes, and accessories. Finally you go over to a computer to name your animal and a birth certificate is printed. At the register you receive the birth certificate and it goes in a large box that holds your animal which is  supposed to represent the animal’s home. I really think the whole process is fun for the kids. We might be able to do this build-a-bear workshop once or twice a year, but not much more than that. The price can really add up. For each animal it was $22 and then we only added the one shirt. Our total ended up being $55. So, it was pricey, but for once a year I would do it again. Also, maybe, just maybe, this whole “puppy” thing might go away.