Did you ever see those people who line up their stuffed
animals in the back window of their car?
I feel like this was something that was very popular in the 80’s, but I
still smirk when I see it today. I was
one of those kids who didn’t get the whole “stuffed animal” craze. Why play with a furry bear when you can have
seven thousand Barbies? For some reason,
I also thought they were dirty toys. My
mother’s ability to convince me that everything that cannot be Windex’ed/Pledge’ed
is dirty is evident in my distaste for stuffed animals. I remember being in the hospital and as
family came to visit, I would almost cringe as they brought several “Her First
Bear” stuffed animals. Yet, like a good
Mommy, I displayed them in her room- on the highest shelf- where she would
never be able to reach them.
Given this information, it should come as no surprise that
Hayden is obsessed with stuffed animals.
Of course, she has her best friend “Orange”- a stuffed orange seahorse
that was won at a carnival when she was four months old- Actually she sleeps
with three Orange’s because I bought a case of them when I realized they were
her comfort animal (Yes, insane… I know).
As if her wide collection of stuffed seahorses wasn’t enough, she sleeps
with 22 other stuffed animals. Yes, you
heard that right, 22. Hayden is no
fool. If one of her precious “friends”
(as she calls them) is missing from her bed at night, we will go on a full
scavenger hunt until that “friend” is retrieved and placed back on her
bed. I am not amused for her fondness of
these stuffed, dirt collecting, animals- but I am also a sucker, so I let her
have anything she wants.
You can imagine my eye-rolling when my mother declared that
Hayden needed an American Doll. For all
of you that don’t know what American Dolls are- They are obnoxiously expensive
(picture bride of Chucky-looking) dolls that come with different skin tones,
eye colors, hair colors/textures, etc.
One must travel to NYC to the American Doll headquarters and have the
experience of obtaining one. I’m
confident that the age suggestion on these Rolls Royce’s of dolls is eight
years and above, but no, Hayden was turning three and clearly needed one
immediately.
Road trip. My sister,
mother, Hayden and I piled in and trekked to the city to get this magical
doll. When we entered, the Doll
Concierge directed us to the third level where the American Doll babies were-
Age appropriate for a 3 year old. My
mother was not amused and made a spectacle in saying that Hayden was far too
advanced for this baby doll that (gasp!) didn’t even have hair. Meanwhile, I stood back and wondered why this
doll store, located on 5th Avenue in NYC, that was the size of the Governors’
Mansion, was teeming with girls of all ages.
Aren’t we in a damn recession? My
mouth almost hit the floor when we went up to the “Beauty Parlor” and I saw
grown women giving these dolls makeovers and hair up-do’s. You can schedule a hair appointment for your
doll and have them made up. Price ranges
from $20 for a pony tail to $40 for a French braid. These people are out of their damn mind. Again, let me re-iterate, these were for the
doll’s hair to get done, not for the children’s.
I stood back and smiled when Hayden brought my Mom an
African American doll and insisted this was the one she wanted. Not because we have a racist bone in our
bodies, but because my Mom’s dream was that she would pick a doll that looked
exactly like her. Long brown wavy hair,
brown eyes and alas, light skin. I found
the entire spectacle amusing as my Mom swept her up and confronted a
salesperson and asked where we could have a doll made to look just like
Hayden. The woman explained that the 50
dolls they had on display were the choices and to just pick one of those. Finally, Hayden settled on a Latina American
Doll. I told my Mom that Hayden has
fantastic skin tone and gets quite tan in the summer, so she will look a lot
like this doll. Just as I thought we
were done, it was then explained to me that the doll needed clothing. Another full 45 minutes to pick out three outfits-
A dress, casual jeans and sweater, and pajamas. Each of these outfits was similarly priced as
to what I buy myself at the Gap. Hayden also insisted that the doll needed her
own hair brush, a carrying case and of course, sunglasses.
Hayden named this precious doll Princess Bella and she now
spends her days on Hayden’s bed.
Ironically, Hayden loves Princess Bella just as much as her $3.99 Hello
Kitty stuffed animal. She doesn’t
discriminate either. She loves all her
friends equally… That’s not true, she loves Orange the best. All in all, it was a fun day with the girls
in the city- but nothing made my morning more complete than to see my manly
husband brushing Princess Bella’s hair and changing her from pajamas into her
jeans (with a scowl on his face) while Hayden commanded him to change her. Amazing what a little girl can do to a man’s
pride J
