Monday, February 18, 2008

Barbie World

Playing with Barbie Dolls was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. My sisters and I actually had a whole closet dedicated to these little ladies. The closet was right off our kitchen and occupied the space above the stairs to the basement of our house. The walls and floors were covered with carpet-remnants that my dad strategically placed into room and hallway segments. So, you can imaging that this 3-level loft was like a dream-haven for these dolls. And us kids.

My mom has told stories of us playing in that tiny confined space for hours and hours on end, day after day after day. 3 little kids, 1 hot light bulb, closed door, 87 barbies, and countless accessories. You can almost smell it, can't you?

Maddie has never exhibited signs of Barbie-love like I did at her age, but lately her and her BFF Clare (their words...not mine) have been playing like crazy. This is the sight that I came home to yesterday:


Me: Wow...what's all this?
Maddie: Clare and I are going to play Barbies again today.
Me: Cool. What's with the little papers and the dolls in such a, a...organized fashion?
Maddie: Oh that. I just gave them personalities.
Me: Personalities? Really?
Maddie: See - she's a doctor, she's a fashion designer, she works at McDonald's, this is her sister, she is really smart, she likes to read, her favorite color is green, she lives in Chicago...
Me: Personalities. Good idea. Hmmm...some of them look like they have really short hair
Maddie: Yeah. I thought they needed a makeover.


...and then we proceeded to have a little photo shoot.








7 comments:

jilldaisbrenne said...

Oh... my favorite is Cassie the 17 year old scholar and ballet teacher from Chicago.

I love barbies!!

Sara Wicht said...

I love it! Maddie does know the hair won't grow back, right? Because when I was her age, I didn't, and I was pretty disappointed when it became a reality.

The Hertels (Paul, Tia and Seneca) said...

Oh, the memories of the "Barbie Doll Closet"!! I am glad Maddie is taking an interest. If only SHE had a Barbie Doll Closet....

Jaime Cox said...

I love how all the ages are "old" for your daughter. 17, 18, 20... I love it!! When in reality those Barbies have to be at least 26!! Especially the doctor, age 20. Precious!!

Anonymous said...

amazing!
I could never do that!

Jill said...

This really takes me back. I have one little boy (20 mos) and my BIGGEST hope is to have a little girl at some point and I think I will just die if she isn't interested in playing Barbies with me. I would hate to be "one of those" moms that force my kids to do something I like, but I think I will just have to find me a closet of my own if my own kids won't play with me...
just because I'm missing them so much!

Heather Culhane said...

OMG, that story about barbies reverted me straight back to my childhood- Clare never said a word! So dang cute, what creativity.

Once I was making a "pool" for my barbies in the bathroom sink. I was letting it fill up and got a little distracted and the next thing I knew, Mom was home and ran into the bathroom to find water running down the heat vents....oops.