13 January 2011

The Dolls Have Dolls

The girl is now the happy possessor of two American Girl dolls.  She got Julie, the hippie chick from 1974, for her birthday, and Julie's best friend Ivy for Christmas.  She takes them everywhere. They sleep with her. They come down to breakfast with her. She changes their clothes; she does their hair. She brings them on playdates, because her friends all seem to be as enamored of them as she is.

I confess, it's kind of charming. She's far more attached to Julie and Ivy than she's been to any Barbie or Polly Pocket, or even any of the zoo of stuffed animals.

The other night, I went in to turn out her light and found her sound asleep, the two dolls alongside her, Julie cradling a mermaid, Ivy with Anne of Green Gables.


I had to restrain myself from tucking a Polly Pocket under the mermaid's arm, and another under Anne's. Because, you know, where would it stop?

26 comments:

  1. We live in different countries but our realities are oddly parallel at the moment. If M and I make it to NYC this year, we'll have to introduce the American girls to their Canadian cousin.

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  2. This is interesting. Neither of my girls have had much interest in dolls bigger than Barbie. I have some Sasha dolls from childhood that they'll once in awhile play with but aren't attached to them in any way. They are more into Barbies and stuffed animals, Playmobil, etc. I wonder why?

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  3. Suffering from an acute case of envy here. Neither my daughters nor my granddaughter care for dolls, except Barbie and I love them and collect them. Sigh.
    And what a beautiful photo.

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  4. Dave's daughter gave his granddaughter (her niece) the hippy chick doll for Christmas...she loved it!

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  5. Do you think if they had "American Boy" dolls my son would have any interest? Okay ... I'll stop right there.

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  6. I'm a little weak from the cute.

    I also love that you got her the hippie dolls.

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  7. Have you read ZOOM and Re-ZOOM? Borrow'em from the library, and enjoy!

    Glad she's loving the dolls. Mine enjoyed theirs for years. (And those are the tidiest hippies I've ever seen!)

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  8. @Heide,
    My guy was given a boy doll, American Girl size (AG doesn't do boy dolls). He pestered me for days to take him down to the American Girl store, so he could spend $37 of his own money to buy the soccer outfit.

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  9. Anonymous12:28 PM

    Ugh. Fiona has three (my fault, I bought the "wrong" one initially), and now she wants Ivy. Where will it end indeed. Last year (was it last year?) we took her to the Radio City Christmas show and AG Place. One guess which one made a lasting impression.

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  10. Very sweet!

    My kiddo will inherit my American Girls (I had four? five? and tons of furniture/clothes/accessories). I hope she loves them like I did!

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  11. Love the picture.

    SC had a Samantha doll that I managed to buy on Ebay at a good price, and that Santa gave her. I think she liked it because it was huggable--she was and is more a stuffed animal person.

    JR wanted Felicity, and I was able to get her the same way, and she also ended up with Samantha. But she tired of both and they're now in the closet.

    On the other hand, "Baby", her Playskool soft doll she's had from babyhood is still in bed with her every night. And Fred the Sock Monkey too, of course..

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  12. I never was into dolls, but I like those American Girl dolls. Such a sweet picture.

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  13. That is the sweetest photo ever.

    My daughter just discovered American Girl dolls by way of a catalogue that came to our house. She has never shown much of an interest in dolls at all, but she is hell bent on getting an AG. Has Miranda always been into dolls, or is it just the AG phenomenon? I don't want to get the V-meister one and have it gather dust in the corner, you know?

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  14. That is just so sweet. And a hippie American Girl Doll? Groovy!

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  15. I LOVED my American Girl, Molly. I think it is awesome that girls still get more into them than their big-bosomed, small-waisted cousin, Barbie. And I can't believe how many of them there are now. When I got Molly, she was one of three, with Kirsten and Samantha. It was a big deal when Felicity joined them.

    Get her the books next. Nothing better than reading stories about your best friend.

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  16. Love the sweet photo! The dolls for the dolls' dolls reminded me of when I was a kid and I got a dollhouse for my dollhouse and *that* dollhouse had a dollhouse in it, too.

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  17. funny. MQ just came in and asked about the picture, and I told her, and then she said "wouldn't it be funny if her dolls' dolls had dolls, and then they had dolls, and then they had dolls and then...."

    and she hadn't even read your post, just seen the picture, and had me explain that it was a picture of my friend's daughter, her dolls, and their dolls.

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  18. Lovely photograph...

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  19. The American Girl Store in downtown Chicago has become this mecca for little girls and their families. I love seeing the little girls holding their dolls in their matching outfits in the morning (when there is a school holiday) and the telltale signs of red shopping bags in the afternoon on the train.

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  20. It's doll-ing to the nth degree!

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  21. I had to restrain myself from tucking a Polly Pocket under the mermaid's arm, and another under Anne's.

    I loved this bit so much.

    The photo is adorable, too.

    Phoebe hasn't expressed any interest in dolls so far, but it's likely only lack of exposure. At least lack of exposure to playing with dolls. My mother-in-law has given her several dolls (thankfully none of the Barbie type), and she is less interested in those than her stuffed animals. (Much like me as a kid, actually.)

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  22. Oh, that is wonderful.

    Have you read "The Secret in Miranda's Closet" yet? It relates.

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  23. I resisted the AG dolls at first, because of the over-the-top merchandising. But when I realized that there's a history that accompanies each doll, I came around. My daughters are learning about other generations of young girls and loving it. The books are a must and even the DVD movies that Santa delivered this Xmas gave made me a fan. I think it's best (at least for me) to avoid the store....

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  24. yes! this made me grin--as a mama, as a girl who loved dolls. the whimsy! the love!

    thanks for sharing.

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