The significance? My 9th birthday
My heart’s desire? Peaches ‘n Cream Barbie
I wish I had photos of the ‘extreme makeovers’ I would do with my Barbie’s. I’ve always been a fan of short, spiky hair. I also gave my dolls bright-colored dye jobs with food coloring (it was the 80’s people!) The lovely mismatched--but oh so funky ensembles-- I would create..yikes maybe this is where Jill gets her fashion sense. Yep, that’s how I treated my dolls when I was 10.
But let’s go back a year, a year before I knew ‘girls just wanna have fun’ or ‘this is what it sounds like when doves cry.’ 1984 is the year we spent my birthday weekend visiting my aunt’s family. We went to a magical land called Toys R Us. My small town didn’t have one of those. Oh the wonder and beauty of a store full of nothing but TOYS. Not only did they have just toys but they had ROWS full of nothing but Barbies! And there she was, in all her peachy perfection, just waiting for me to grab her right up and take her home. And I did.
I’m pretty sure her shoes were lost within the week, if they survived the trip home. And I’m willing to bet her stole (that hooked Ken) probably didn’t make it a month. I’d like to say I’m sure I never cut her hair or destroyed her dress when I began to hit those ‘tween’ years but I can’t. Only because I really don’t remember! I don’t remember what became of her after that first day. But I remember the commercials (with a refresher from YouTube) and the feeling of getting to pick anything on that aisle (within my budget).
Maybe that’s why, more often than not, we allow our birthday child to celebrate by taking them shopping. We’ve given a few surprises over the years and last year we..okay just me, sorry D, it wasn’t you..got off track and TOTALLY overspent on birthdays. But with the ‘reinvention’ of our budget, okay, with me agreeing to stick to frugality, this year we’ll go back to the old ways. I will give them a budget and we’ll have a special day shopping, which translates we’ll have, depending on the child, 5-10 stressful minutes in the Target toy/game section. Ahh memories…they’re great aren’t they?
Happy Birthday Barbie!
3 comments:
My barbies all had short hair, too. My dog liked to chew on their heads, so I would cut their hair and perform "emergency brain surgery" with my Dr. Barbie in order to save their lives. I was a weird kid.
I had this barbie! I loved her. I never mutilated my barbies, but my cabbage patch kid...well I tried to give him braces on his buck teeth.
Weren't we all weird kids? I know I was, probly, still am.
Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead. I'm on Jan's computer. I am the one who made the last comment. Hopefully this will show up as the true me.
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