And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Monday, January 25, 2010

My Own Private Barbie Hell....


I very much enjoyed my Barbies as a child. Aside from a short period in my teen years, I never got into that "ban Barbie because she is unrealistic" thing. After all, she is just a toy. My teddy bear didn't resemble real bears I had seen all that much, why should my dolls really reflect an accurate human shape? Besides, it wasn't about Barbie, it was about the clothes and fixing her hair. I really liked dressing her up and trading doll clothes with the neighbor boy.

Anyway.


I never really got any Barbies for Big Sprout, though. She was still a little young for them when Mr. Barefoot and I got together, and then his girls (who are almost 10 years older than Big Sprout) were outgrowing
their Barbies. Big Sprout just inherited theirs. She seemed fine with it, so I never really thought much about it.






Until recently. See, just in the last month or so, Little Sprout has discovered Barbie Doll. Little Sprout is infatuated. So fights became a part of the daily routine here at Barefoot Manor. Little Sprout would sneak into Big Sprout's room and steal a Barbie. Big Sprout would come home and throw a fit because Little Sprout was stealing her stuff!!! Then I would throw a fit because Big Sprout rarely plays with her Barbies, and if she isn't going to play with them I see no reason that Little Sprout can't. On the other hand, they ARE Big Sprout's dolls, and she has the right to say no.


Ugh.


This past weekend, a coworker gifted me a huge.....and I mean HUGE rubbermaid tub full of Barbie dolls and accessories. All for Little Sprout. Little Sprout is in heaven. The tub literally takes up an entire wall in our living room, and is full of Barbie stuff I didn't even know they had! There is a trampoline, for crying out loud. Horses, a carriage, kitchen stuff, a fire pit, bikes, a bath tub, Barbie baby stuff.....wow.


And it is ALL. OVER. MY. HOUSE. There are barbie shoes, and barbie hats. Barbie marshmallows to toast over the barbie campfire. Barbie sunglasses and barbie crowns. I am gonna lose my mind. I mean, it was cool the first little bit. The gal who gifted us these Barbies is compulsively neat, and each separate set was in it's own little baggie. It was fun to open the bags, look at the neat little things that Barbie can play with, and then put them back. I enjoyed pulling out the pretty dresses, and thinking about what activity Barbie would wear it for.

Now I am just done with the whole thing. It has been two full days of Little Sprout taking every single item out of the tub, asking what it is, handing it to me, and running back for yet another itty bitty little Barbie accessory. She sleeps with her Barbie dog, and stuck one of the Barbie's heads in her cereal milk. The Barbie carriage and horses have been running over my feet all morning.

I don't know whether to bless my coworker for making my little one so happy...... or kill her and hide the body in a swamp for saddling me with this hassle and mess.

*sigh* The joys of parenthood, right?

2 comments:

jenny said...

UGH!! I SO know what you mean about the Barbie accessories!! I can handle the barbies and a few clothes, but OMG! The shoes, the dishes, the teeny-weenie soda bottles, the radio and the skis!!! I have been guilty of sweeping up one or two accessories after repeatedly telling the girls TO PICK UP THEIR TOYS!!!!! It's no fun stepping on a pointy barbie toy! OUCH!

I feel your pain honey. While she sleeps at night, I suggest you take the whole bin and put it in the attic and only keep out a baggie of accessories and a baggie of clothing and 2 or 3 barbies. That's enough to keep her happy. That's what I do and it keeps me sane.

Wendy said...

Four girls ... that's all I'm saying :).

What I would do is to gather up all of the little stuff and find a nice hiding place (*cough* the attic *cough*) and put them there, leaving only the dolls, a few clothes, and maybe a car or horse or something. Who needs that many "accessories" anyway, right?

Good luck ;).