Coronavirus quarantine: Mom entertains family by posing giant teddy bears around house
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A mother-of-four who cannot bear the boredom of isolation has devised a genius way of keeping her family entertained — by posing giant teddy bears performing daily tasks.
Businesswoman Amanda Briscall, 48, posed the life-sized teddy bears gardening – much to the delight of neighbors passing her house on their daily walk. And they even enjoyed a beer in the yard one night, in front of the log fire, as a treat for all their hard work.
Briscall, who runs a jewelry imprint business from her home in Stockport, Cheshire, England, first came up with the idea eight years ago when her children were younger. Back then, she posed the bears in scenes doing various activities around the house and posted pictures on social media for the amusement of her friends and family
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
TEXAS FAMILY HOSTS 'PROM ON THE PORCH' WHEN BIG DANCE IS CANCELED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
The bears were snapped helping out with washing, playing on the children's play equipment and even sitting in the family car. And while the bears have been a permanent fixture within the family home, this week she shared their recent exploits to raise people's spirits during coronavirus lockdown.
"I run my business from home so I've always had a lot of time in the house on my own. Back then, my three oldest children were younger so I would get the bears doing various things around the house and posed them up to make me chuckle,” Briscall said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"I took pictures and posted them to my social media to spell out a little story of the bears' day. I had them in the garden playing on the swings, I had them in the kitchen helping out with ironing and washing and I had them sat in the window waiting for the kids to come home.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
"It was just something fun for the kids and they loved it. They have been a permanent fixture in our house ever since, it's not as if they have been retired,” she explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Briscall’s hilarious posts were a hit with her friends and family and she returned the bears to public action when a nearby house did something similar with their own giant bears.
The busy mom was tagged in social media posts of a nearby neighbor with two similar-looking bears posed in scenes in the garden in nearby Heaton.
"A lot of my friends were texting me and tagging me. They were like 'Oh my god, there's another nutter like you,’” she joked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"Someone joked that I have competition, but I think it's great what they're doing. It's funny that there's another house so close doing something similar. They have gone viral and there's lots of posts about them.”
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS
"I've got nothing but respect for them and the way they put their poses together every day. I certainly can't commit to that, but my bears will be making an appearance here and there,” she shared. "I'd love to get all our bears together at one point when the lockdown is over."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Briscall said the bears have raised the spirits of partner Jamie and her children Alexander, 21, Anastasia, 18, Joseph, 14, and Angelica, 7, who she is isolating with.
"Joseph helped me get them set up for the recent poses. The bears have done a bit of gardening in the front garden,” the proud mom said. "We live on a quiet road, but quite a few people have walked past on their daily exercise and they've all stopped to have a look and a smile.”
"It's great making people smile, everybody is on lockdown and obviously worried with the coronavirus situation, but it's great to see people chuckle.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS’ CONTINUING CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
"Then Jamie was out burning some rubbish and we like to sit in the garden and have a drink in front of the fire, so we thought the bears could join too one night. It's just good fun and a way to keep everyone's spirits up,” she explained.
Briscall celebrated her birthday on March 21 – the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson implemented lockdown measures – and celebrated with her family via a party on video chat app, Zoom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"It was the first day of isolation, so we started as we mean to go on by only being in touch with people via video calls,” she revealed. "But it's important that we all stay at home and follow the government advice. It's just good to keep positive while we do."
This story was originally published by SWNS.