Your Magic Toeshoes

Alongside literary giants like Shakespeare and Tolstoy are the Berenstain Bears. (Maybe that’s a stretch, but just go with me on this one.)

In one of their timeless classics we learn about The Magic Toeshoes. Basically, a young bear wants to be a ballerina. But her toes are wobbly. So an old ballet master takes pity and gives her some “Magic Toeshoes,” saying that with these shoes she’ll be steady and confident.

Convinced of their power, she tries them on and is amazed at the result. As the year goes on, and as the big recital approaches, everything is set for her performance. But then, on the night of the show, she forgets her magic toeshoes at home!

Upset and anxious, she tells the old ballet master, who then discloses that they were never magic in the first place. They were just ordinary shoes.

So out onto the stage she…