Coco the Bear

Well two nights ago we were once again reminded of a fear that we thought had long ago been forgotten. For some strange unknown reason Olivia is scared of dressed up characters. Like the Hersheypark characters, or Mickey and minnie at Disney World. I have never quite gotten to the bottom of it, there has never been a 'character incident' or anything that might indicate why she is so scared, but she is. We have been to numerous places where there are characters in the last few years and nothing has ever really been said. There has been no crying or screaming, no looks of terror, she just avoids them. So two nights ago we went to Barnes and Noble to see the Hershey Bears hockey team read books to the kids. Olivia and Hailey were intently listening to the stories, Riley was playing with the trainset and all was well. That is until Coco the Bear decided to join the party. Riley was scared but other then clinging to me with a death grip, he was okay. Hailey was just fine with him even going so far as to run up and hug him. So, we assumed all was well. Well you know what they say about assuming anything.. As soon as Olivia saw the bear there was a look of shear terror on her face. She immediately started to cry. I was trying to be patient as the entire room of kids and parents were watching us. I took her aside and explained to her that it was just a person dressed up, yada yada yada.. She calmed down and we went to stand in line to get autographs from the players. As soon as the line started to move closer to the bear, all bets were out the window. She immediately started to cry again, although louder this time. So we gathered up the kids and were preparing to leave. I wasn't going to put any of us in that situation. As soon as she realized we were leaving she started screaming and stomping her feet. (yes, she is the kid at the mall who throws herself on the floor and kicks and screams). So we drug her out of the store crying.. another wonderful end to a family trip.. Needless to say she went straight to bed with no TV.
Hailey was a little upset that she didn't get to stay and get a book. Olivia and I had a nice long talk about characters and hopefully the situation is over.