Colm O'Regan: Teddy bears are back in vogue but my kids have to respect my geriatric buddy

My cuddly toys are a cast of characters assembled slowly over years of Santa visits.

In teddy years Sylvester is a pensioner.

“Be careful with Sylvester now”. I sound a little shrill. But Sylvester is old and my children might be too rough with him. In human years he’s 40-something so he should be obsessed with planning permission and the timetables for the bins. But in teddy years he’s a pensioner.

Slyvester is not even the oldest cuddly toy in the pantheon. Somewhere in a box here or in the mothership there are Teddy and Pixie who are in their fifties where passed down from siblings. Teddy is so worn some of his blemishes look like liver spots. But they’re still hale and hearty. They’ll probably try the Camino next year.