Passing The Barbie Down - Sex~Kitten.net

Back in the 60's, when I was a little girl, having a Barbie doll was the equivalent to a little boy having a GI Joe doll. If you had one, you were cool. If you had more than one, you were really, really cool.

My friends and I were really, really cool. We had them. The Barbie's, not the GI Joe's. As I look back, I can see my best girl friend, and her sister (they lived right next door) and I, spending countless hours on the front porch playing with our Barbie's. We'd use the fancy cases to make houses, changed their clothes more times than is humanly possible, and let our imaginations run wild. We'd use our mother's biggest (and best) bowls for use as a swimming pool. We'd use washcloths of many colors to use as living room rugs. We'd mimic everyday life as we knew it. Ah, those were the days. Carefree living at it's finest.

Barbie was one of my favorite toys. I loved the clothes, but more than that, I loved the hair. I had one Barbie that had long, blond hair. It had these tiny wires in it, so that when you styled it, it would stay that way until you undid it. Man, I loved that doll. In fact, she's right here in this room with me. She's sharing space in a rough tote container along with my daughter's Barbie dolls, up on a shelf in the closet.

Now you want to see a Barbie freak? It's my daughter. In fact, Barbie potty trained her, and ever since then she was hooked. It all began at K-Mart. There we were, she in the front seat of the cart, and me pushing it. Going through the toy aisle. It was there my daughter spotted her.

In a blue shiny box. Barbie had long, flowing blond hair, down to her knees. Immediately my daughter shrieked, giggled and squealed, "I want dat!" I figured this may be the opportunity I was waiting for. I proceeded to tell her that only 'big girls who went on the potty' had those dolls. She crinkled up her little nose, pondered that thought a minute, and said, "Ok, I go on da potty." I thought to myself, yeah right. But once we arrived back home, the first thing she wanted to do was put on big girl panties and sit her little behind on the potty chair. Much to my amazement, she actually peed!

Of course, she wanted the Barbie before I had the chance to show her the uses of potty paper. I told her that before she could have the Barbie, she had to always go on the potty and not in her panties, and that diapers were now a thing of the past. Lo and behold, she did it..and two weeks later she had that Barbie in her pudgy, little hands and she became enamored by her! She is now soon to be 23, and the infatuation has since worn off a little, but there are still times I will see her take down that rough tote and remember all the fun times she shared with Barbie.

What always amazed me, was that Barbie could be anything she wanted to be. Even if it was a so called, 'man's' job. She's been a doctor, a vet, and even an astronaut. A rock star, a beautician, a teacher, and a lawyer. So when my daughter was playing with her multitude of Barbie's, I always stressed upon her, that she too, could be whatever she wanted to be when she grew up. It didn't matter if someone said it was a 'man's job' or not. She could do it! And she did. She's now a teacher.

There will be many who say that Barbie is not a good toy for a little girl to play with. That her body is too perfect and gives girls a predisposition to anorexia, bulimia and a host of other assorted problems. To that, I say bullshit! If one does not point out those things to a child, I don't even think most little girls would notice, more or less think about them and let it scar them for the rest of their lives. To them, Barbie is a toy. She is not human. She is not a role model. She is simply a doll for a little girl to play with, dress up, and use her imagination with. She's been around for a long time, and I don't see her going anywhere but on more store shelves. Unless of course, she changes careers again. :)