The Ultimate Barbie Sin

When Peach was born, I decided to start a collection for her.  I always wanted the holiday Barbies when I was growing up.  So, for her first two Christmases, Peach got the holiday Barbie for that year.  Only the first two years.  Those suckers are expensive, and when there were other things that she actually said she wanted, my plan fell by the wayside.  But, I had these two beautiful ladies, displayed in their boxes on a shelf in her room.  And she didn't notice them...  Until recently.

Not long ago, Peach started asking me about the pretty princess girls on her shelf.  At first I brushed her off.  She has plenty of dolls to play with, she didn't need those.  But, she got more and more insistent, and it seemed as though I couldn't keep her thoughts away from her collectibles on the shelf.  Finally one morning, after she asked me about 437 times in the span of 5 minutes if she could open the "princesses that are up so high," I just gave up and conceded.  My ultimate plan was for her to have a Holiday Barbie for every year until she was 18, and then she could do what she wished with them.  But, since I had already missed 2 out of 4 of them, I figured what the heck.  And what girl wants a perfectly packaged Barbie just sitting there, not being played with?  Not Peach, that is for sure.

So, I committed the ultimate Barbie collector sin.  I got them off her shelf, while she danced around me singing, "Barbie, Barbie, I love a Barbie!"  I brought them down to the kitchen, got out the scissors and started hacking away.  And when I say "hacking away" I really mean that.  Have you ever tried to get a Barbie doll (or really any other toy) out of it's packaging?  I swear there must be solid gold buried deep inside each doll.  There is no other explanation for the fact that they are literally sewn, glued and screwed into those boxes.

After a good 15 minutes of cutting, prying, and cursing, I finally freed Barbie 2008 from her box.  Peach held out her sticky little hands and breathed a soft, "Oh, she is so pretty!"  Then I started to get excited.  Barbie was my ultimate favorite toy when I was a kid.  I still remember when I got Peaches and Cream Barbie and Ken from my Aunt Mets one year.  I would brush their hair, dress them up, and play with them for hours.  And now, I get to do that with my sweet Peach!

I fought my way through Barbie 2009's prison and finally released her from her shackles.  Peach reached out again and hugged both dolls tightly.  As I started gathering up the aftermath, she headed up to her room to play with them in the princess castle.  I went up with her and played for a little bit, until it was time to go to preschool. 

This happened two weeks ago.  Since then, she and Luigi played with them one time.  He used his Angry Birds to "kill them" and they have been lying in the hallway like this ever since:

I keep thinking she is going to go back and want to play with them.  I've even asked her if she would like to include the Barbies in with the Princesses when we play.  "No, they are dead," she will calmly tell me.  "Don't move them, ok."  Oooooo-kaaaayyyy. 


And so, I offer a humble apology to Barbie purists everywhere.  I am nothing but a silly mom, taking priceless dolls out of their cardboard homes, so my son and daughter can torture them. 

Cheers!
~Daisy