9/5/14: I have a friend who vehemently despises bears. Let’s call her Monday. No matter what anyone posts about bears, she (who is an otherwise lovely, hilarious, animal-friendly, and thoroughly sane person) jumps in with her bear-hating claws out. It’s become something of a sport for us to periodically post something bear-related and wait for her inevitable reaction. So I post this with my dear Monday in mind, knowing full well it’s likely to get her going again.

Bear cubs are seriously cute. I’m sorry, Monday, but they are. I know you think of them as face-eating monsters (that’s a quote, by the way), but they are nonetheless heart-breakingly adorable when they’re little. Also, we’ve all heard stories of how fearsome mamma bears can be when they think their cubs are being threatened, and that’s kind of bad ass (unless mamma thinks you’re up to no good, then it’s goodbye face). Well, BoredPanda.com decided to celebrate their ursine loveliness with a photo montage of mammas teaching their cubs how to bear. Brace yourself for the squee.

http://www.boredpanda.com/bear-cubs-photography-parenting/