“When cubs and their parents get a little too busy, their everyday lives get a little too dizzy.”
—Opening quote for The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Pressure
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Pressure is a book in the Berenstain Bears First Time Books series. It was first published on November 3, 1992.
It was later adapted into an episode of the same name for the 2002 TV series, The Berenstain Bears.
Summary[]
Things at the Bear family treehouse become quite hectic, as the cubs join various clubs and take up activities. Mama gets a schedule to help keep track of things, but it soon spirals out of control as Mama and the cubs rush to do their things, leaving Papa with less time to fix the family car. It becomes too much of a hassle, leaving the family with less time to do fun things.
Plot[]
The Bear family usually sat around doing nothing, but they had become quite busy as of lately, as Brother had signed up for the Little League, Sister was taking ballet classes, and both of the cubs started taking up riding lessons after Sister's best friend, Lizzy Bruin, began doing them. The cubs eventually started seeing an influx of activities to do when they saw that their friends signed up for them as well, with Brother taking up swimming, karate, and computer club, Sister taking gymnastics and art, and both of them took up soccer.
Due to the cubs taking up a lot of activites, Mama had to drive both of them. The amount of activities got so complicated that Mama had to set up a schedule to keep things in order, which Papa hung up on the wall. On Friday, the schedule became tighter than usual. As Mama was getting food out of the freezer, the phone started to ring. Sister was preparing for ballet, Brother was getting his baseball equipment, and Papa was outside working on the family car.
When Mama answers the phone, Grizzly Gran wants to talk to her. As Mama explains why she was a little breathless, the phone cord got tangled in Mama's shoulder bag, causing the base to fall on the floor. She then bent down to reach for the phone base, but ends up losing her hat, and when she reached for it, she ended up tripping over the cord and falling onto the floor. Gran tells Mama that she was inviting the family over to her and Grizzly Gramps' house for dinner, though she tells Gran that she'll have to check her schedule and get back to her. Sister, who sees Mama in her predicament, tells her that they're going to be late. As the cubs and Mama went to the car, Brother and Sister started arguing over who Mama should drop off first.
Papa tries to tell Mama that the car's spark plugs needed cleaning, but she quickly tells him "Not now, dear!" then races down the dirt road. Gran acknowledges that there are too many things going on at the Bear family treehouse, with Gramps saying that's how young people are. Before he could explain his story, Gran states; "Doing is one thing. Overdoing is something else again." That night at the Bear family treehouse, there were too many things going on, as the family was running about getting things done and the schedule became a nightmare. The family's TV time was cancelled, as everyone was stiff and tired. They decided to go to bed early that night.
In Sister's dream, she was on a merry-go-round of activites, which kept going round and round. She tried to get off, but regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn't. In Brother's dream, he was caught in a whirlwind of baseballs, soccer balls, and computers. In Papa's dream, he was riding the schedule that was hanging on the wall, in the form of a magic carpet, into a deep black hole. Mama, however, didn't fall asleep that night, as she laid awake in bed thinking about how she'll get through the next day.
The next morning after a quick breakfast, Mama had the cubs hurry to the family car as they had a difficult day ahead of them. As the cubs climbed into the car, Mama tried to turn the engine on, but the car wouldn't start. Brother pipes up about his karate instructor being strict about being late, with Sister adding that her soccer coach is even worse. No matter how hard Mama tried to start the car, the engine just wouldn't start. Suddenly, Mama bursts into tears and goes into the house. Sister has Brother go get Papa while she followed Mama into the treehouse. Inside, Mama went into her and Papa's bedroom and laid across the bed sobbing. Sister watched from outside the room door, with herself trying not to cry.
In the woods, as Papa was planting trees, Brother tells him that Mama started crying. As Papa and Brother walk back home, Papa tells him that the spark plugs need to be replaced, but the real problem was their schedule and Mama didn't sleep well the night before because of it, with Brother admitting that he himself had a bad dream. As they got near the treehouse, Brother tells Papa about the bad dream Sister had. Inside Mama and Papa's bedroom, Sister announces to Brother and Papa that Mama had stopped crying, with her adding that there's nothing like a good cry. Once everything had settled down, the Bear family had a meeting.
The cubs agree to doing two after-school activities a week, with Brother doing baseball and computer club, and with Sister doing ballet and horseback riding. Despite losing the title of "The Busiest Family in Bear Country", the Bear family went back to enjoying everyday things most families do, including sitting around and doing absolutely nothing.
Differences[]
- In the book, just after the car refused to start, Mama went back inside the treehouse crying, with Sister ordering Brother to go find Papa and tell him what happened. He and Brother then go into Mama and Papa's bedroom where the family holds a meeting. In the episode, Mama breaks down into tears after the car wouldn't start, prompting Brother and Sister to do the same. As Papa leaves his workshop, he sees Mama and the cubs crying then declares their plans for the day "officially off."
- The book ends with the Bear family going on a picnic with Grizzly Gramps and Gran. The episode ends with the family trying to ease their schedule.
Trivia[]
- On one page, Brother says "Soccer is how we get our kicks!". There would later be a book with the latter three words in the title, aptly named "The Berenstain Bears Get Their Kicks".