Tuesday, February 17, 2009

barbies- to bridge the gap

i woke up this morning with the thought of" barbies" on my mind. this past christmas, i gave my oldest grandaughter, reilly, a huge box full of barbies , and related items. i had been collecting "barbie stuff" for several years- waiting for her to be old enough to understand and appreciate the whole "barbie scene". i wish i could have given her my personal collection, but it seems that my mom took care of that years ago- probably at the huge yard sale they had in fredonia, n.y. when they sold their home and everything in it including all of my keepsakes (i wasn't notified of this sale -i lived in texas). but on to my original thoughts-( man! i get sidetracked easily!).

i found quite a few barbie dolls and even a few ken dolls- one had an elvis costume on - i tried to take the pants off to wash and they were so tight -they wouldn't come off!...men!!! :o) (that reminds me of a "re-visited" story i will write shortly). i hit the jackpot at an estate sale before thanksgiving- lots of barbie clothes and a few more dolls. the woman was a big-time smoker, so i had to wash all those little things and lay them out on my dining room table- i found several little wardrobes (enough for each of my grandaughters) and chose the one that i thought suited reilly. some of the neat pieces that went into the box were- a car, kitchen set, a grocery store set, an outdoor patio set, complete with an umbrella and fold up chairs ( found that one in a south carolina resale shop 2 years ago), lots of clothes- some brand new, and other odds and ends.

i wasn't there when she opened the box on christmas morning, but i know she was happy with her treasure. i remember when i was a young girl- between 7 and 11 years old. i would play "barbies" 'til the cows came home. i would always seem to be in the middle of a neat story with them when my mom would call me for a meal . gggrrrr.... i loved making gowns for my dolls- they always looked great in the front, but had knots tied and pins in the back. -my barbies never turned around!! i had one friend in particular that came to play after we moved from dunkirk to fredonia-barbara farnham. she had a great imagination also and we would come up with wonderful "plays" with our barbies. my floor in my bedroom would be covered with" rooms" that we would create and our dolls would have all sorts of adventures.

sometimes the years between our generations cause a gap that keeps us apart. it's important to realize the many bridges to that gap. it seems like it was just yesterday that i was 6 or 7 and excited about the same things my grandaughters are excited about. maybe i can make one more creative outfit for barbie on my next visit with reilly. we can sit on her floor and have "barbie -time".

3 comments:

  1. It was such a thrill for Reilly to open up the box and see all of the barbie things!
    I couldn't believe it myself!--I was in the toy department at Target recently, and couldn't get over the price of Barbie clothes, now! You gave us so many outfits! and really cute ones, at that...
    Both of the girls have been playing very nicely with the Barbie loot the last few days--
    that's definately a welcome sight!

    I never did get a thank you note out to you about all of the barbie goodies...it was so appreciated!

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  2. Josie saw a barbie commercial on tv, and that was all she was saying last night. I don't know how she even KNOWS about barbies, but maybe in a few years, you will have another stockpile ready for your favorite grandchild. (the REAL favorite) :)

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  3. This reminds me of when we would play barbies. Katie made all of these cool clay barbie accessories, but for some reason, i squished the clay toilet. haha. anywho, you're never too old to have fun. why, just a few years ago, michelle, jamie, and i pulled out my old polly pockets and had some fun pretending. (yes, I was in my 20's)... that's all. you're a good granny. and mother. :)

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