As Christmas approaches, our children have already started making their lists and checking them twice. They are being extra good to make the nice list and scanning the Target catalog daily to add more things to their list.
Every year as Christmas creeps up, I start to dread one thing – the copious amounts of new toys that will now reside at our house. After having three kids, our house has begun to resemble a toy store and some days (okay most), I just want to throw them all away. I do not do well in clutter and I like things to be neat and pretty. And let’s be real, toys are normally pretty gaudy, ugly, and do not fit well with my home decor!
This year, my 4 year old has decided she NEEDS the new Barbie Dream House. Yes, the 4 ft tall, absolutely atrocious doll house. Every part of my body cringed when she said it that day and it still is as she has said it every single day since. I tried to come up with every reason why she shouldn’t get it and might have even showed her the beautiful little wooden doll house by Joanna Gaines that would look beautiful in her room. But much to my dismay, she insists that the Dream House is perfect and exactly what she wants. Her exact words were “Mom it has an elevator and a pool with a slide; it’s the coolest thing ever!” Apparently she doesn’t love Chip and Jo as much as her mama does!
As I thought back to my childhood I had a sudden realization. My aunt (who is three years older than me, so we were raised more like cousins) received the Barbie Dream House of that era one year. I remember being so completely jealous and thinking it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. But what I remember most is playing for hours at a time and for many years with that dang doll house. That doll house was a toy that fostered our imaginations in so many ways and helped us to grow close and build a strong friendship. We shared a mutual love for that toy and could both spend hours sitting there playing. Yes, it was just a toy and we would have found something else to play with, but some of my favorite childhood memories are with it.
So guess who will be joining our family Christmas morning??? In all seriousness though, I can only pray that this doll house brings my sweet girls the joy and hours of fun that I got from the Barbie Dream House circa the 1990’s. And please, if you visit my house, just look away from the huge eye soar in their room!
