Barbie Dolls

Lately, to keep in touch and to help think about how to handle things at work, library staff have been coming to my house for lunch. I love to see them and catch up on library events.



Today, I was blessed to have the three and a half year old daughter of one of the staff members accompany her Mom. She brought a blue bag of toys to keep herself occupied while her Mom and I chatted and nibbled sandwiches.



She showed me her toys - numerous dolls including four Barbie dolls. Wow! I haven't played with Barbie dolls in decades. The face is the same, as is the physique. But the clothes have certainly changed. Her dolls were all dressed as Disney characters - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc.



She also had some smaller dolls including a few mermaids and a couple of MacDonald prize dolls. How fun it was to see the care with which she treated each doll. I thought of my own grand daughters and wondered if they carry around satchels filled with dolls and dreams and beautiful clothes.



It is such a unique world, the world of little girls. When I was a child, I had all the Barbie stuff including outfits my Mother sewed. The Barbie dreamhouse was my favorite place to hang out on a Saturday morning, pretending little scenarios for Barbie and Ken and Midge etal to act out. What a happy couple living in the perfect house having so many good times together, with rarely a cross word between them.

Too bad life does not always follow those scripts! Perhaps that's why Barbie has moved into the world of cartoon movies where the ending is always happy and the right guy gets the right girl!

The good thing is that real life has much more to offer despite the occasional bump in the road. I'd rather be a bit banged up real person than a perfect plastic one. Still, I enjoyed watching my young visitor play with her Barbies. Ah, the memories!