My First Barbie Doll!

When I was a kid I did not play with Barbie dolls. Barbie dolls had not yet entered Indian markets. They arrived when my younger sister was just crossing over her phase of childhood, so she went without one too. So when we saw the Barbie doll ads on TV, we were swept off our feet. Hoping and wishing, we could have one too, just to keep it with us, if nothing else.

I did buy one when I went to the US after I got married. I even gifted one to my sister, but we did practically nothing with them. We just were happy we had one. I can be silly at times, to realise little dreams that I harbour. I don't care when they get realised, I just want them to come true one day and tick it off from my to-do-list-of-dreams-and-fantasies. So that was that.

When I was a to-be mom, I truly hoped it would be a girl. I dreamed of playing with Barbie dolls with my little girl! That would be fun I thought! And so be it! I got a girl. And so one may conclude, I was ready to buy Barbie too! Only to be hit by the reality of the real baby. The life of a baby begins with diapers and feeds, and the mundane pee pee and poo poo and burps and don't forget the constant sterilising of bottles, that is about it. Baby's life is simple, there is no need for Barbie, nor is the baby a Barbie. She is miniscule yes, but that is where the similarity ends. The moment she enters the home, parent's sleep and rest takes a rain-check from the back door, un-noticed and sine-die. “Barbie what Barbie?” I would have snapped, fervently and balefully, if someone mentioned such childish fantasies to me! Real life is not a Barbie commercial after all. Lesson learnt, it does not matter whether you have a son or daughter you have a handful to begin with. Same to same!

Even as she turned eight months, she would get scared of stuffed toys, she was not even ready for stuffed toys in the first year. That year was all about rattles, colourful bright and shiny and  teethers. She fancied, sounds and bright colours and small objects. Even the second year left me disappointed. That was the year of toys which develop motor skills, shape sorters, cookie jars, trains, ducks etc. Anything that could make some sound, either by shaking, pressing or dropping, took precedence over all others.

My own Barbie came out of the closet when she was one and a half. A nice girl-next-door Barbie in pink short dress. Its head dismembered on probably the third day that my daughter hurled it. I did not post one, but at hindsight I can say that, my Facebook status on that day could have been, Barbie-less again and good riddance! Lesson learnt, it does not matter whether you have a little prince or a princess, they both hurl and break objects at age one and half. Same to same!

When she completed her second year, I thought now I could get her some dolls. I took her to the most advertised and purportedly the largest toy shop of the city. And I took her to the dolls section, hoping that she would pick up a stuffed doll to begin with: the rag doll as we call it. Barbie cannot even be offered to kids till the age of three. I picked up a nice stuffed doll, the kind kids carry with them in movies and TV serials - quite proud of my choice! She dumped the doll straight on the floor and moved away from the dolls section altogether. A stuffed Daisy duck caught her fancy. She was fixated to it. We had a basket full of stuffed Disney characters at home, which I had picked up from various amusement parks in the US. NO, little one would not let go of that toy and so we added daisy duck to that already oozing basket at home. My dream for the Barbie stalled for another year.

And then it came like wild fire. "I want a Barbie," she implored one day. I did not believe it, I had given up on ever playing with a Barbie by now. Having faced three years of being a real mom, I had pretty much enough doll play by now with a real doll. I was not even looking forward to a Barbie anymore. And there it was, my daughter's first desire for a Barbie. I made sure she got one ASAP and then another and another till she had no place to keep the Barbie. No I did not get much play time with those dolls. Lesson learnt, it does not matter whether you have toy cars or dolls at home, you will be the one cleaning and tidying them up, not playing with them. Same to Same!

Finally my daughter has had Barbie's to her heart's content and I still feel a burst of pride to see those dolls sitting in my home and being played with. Here is another dream ticked off. I never got my first Barbie I'd say, but I have a doll that is no child's play to manage!