Celebrating Chinese New Year with Build A Bear

 

Chinese New Year celebrations are coming to a close this weekend. They started last weekend on the 10th. I have to admit its been a quiet one in our household. With everyone's conflicting schedules it was hard to get together to truly celebrate the Year of the Snake. It was quite disappointing but I tried my best to continue traditions with my son.

I gave him the traditional red envelope with a crisp bill signifying fortune and luck. We couldn't cook an authentic meal, so we opted to order in from one of our favorite Chinese restaurants for dinner. 

When my blogger buddy Onica from The Mommy Factor offered me an opportunity to work with her on an Asian Black program with Build A Bear I jumped at it. Build A Bear created a limited edition plush snake in honor of the Lunar holiday.

Andre was excited to get this. I was talking to him about Chinese New Year a few days before. For him to have something tangible about his culture, made him realize that yes this is a big thing in society. The snake has a friendly face and soft body. You don't find many toys for boys that feature the Asian culture. I loved the calendar around the snake that shows you by the year you are born what animal you fall under the lunar calendar. Andre had fun figuring out which animal everyone was at home. We figured out that this is my mothers' year! She had no idea.

I really appreciate what Build A Bear did and I am ecstatic that this will be a yearly thing. The Asian culture is such a large part of the New York City community. Being half Chinese and not having any surviving Asian relatives, it makes it difficult to raise a biracial child. I was fortunate to have my grandparents to instill their culture in me. Since he doesn't look Asian, he constantly gets mistaken for being Latino. I want to make sure he knows who & where his family originated from. I want him to be just as proud of each. I don't ever want my son to not feel "represented" in society. I hope many other companies will follow suit with Build A Bear & realize that this world is changing its colors. We all need representation. Gong Hay Fat Choy!

Disclosure: I received the "Year of the Snake" as part of a cultural promotional program with Asian Black Community, Build-a-Bear Workshop and The Mommy Factor  Since this item is only available for a limited time, it might be sold out in Build-a-BearWorkshop stores and online website. No other compensation was received. Views expressed are always 100% my own.