so we have finally been hit with the barbie world. kate got her first barbie the other day. it was an awkward moment because i was totally disappointed when she opened up the gift and barbie was inside and i didn't want the gift-giver to see my reaction.
i was not a barbie girl, i had one and didn't play with it all that much. so maybe it's just the tradition i was handed.
this was my barbie - i think i got her as a birthday present. like i've ever wanted to be businesswoman barbie... :)
it's not that weston and i are paranoid about our girls playing with barbies. i don't want to sound (and certainly don't feel) crazy and overprotective and like "one of those moms" but we really feel kind of strongly about this. i mean, kids are constantly being encouraged to grow up faster and become "adults" sooner all the time. i realize we are talking about my 2 1/2 year old here, but it totally starts even now. just walk down some of those toy aisles - encouraging, encouraging, encouraging.
we realize barbies are an eventuality, but they don't have to have place in our 2 year old's toy box. why should she care about playing with a woman doll with that body? : ) in fact, it took kate all of 2 minutes to talk about barbie's anatomy ;)
i guess we just want our babies and little girls to be who they are: babies and little girls. we want kate to play with her baby dolls and blocks and puzzles. we really don't want her to care about barbie and her plethora of careers and her boyfriend, ken.
so, any takers? what do you think? i know the subject of barbie might be quite tricky to talk about :)
Wednesday, October 13
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scribbled by the coltons at 1:23 PM
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So yeah...my girls play with Monster High dolls...AND we took them to a Jonas Brothers concert last month. I'm THAT kind of mom :P
I think I agree with you Erin....Ive never thought much about Barbies esp since I have a boy for now, but even with him, I want to encourage his boy-ness (nice word huh?) but I dont want him to feel like he has to be tough all the time like people are already suggesting. Or like his HULK toy looks-muscley. So thats my thing now. The balance....cause its true, it all DOES matter now, even though theyre 2 & 3. Kind of an overwhealming thought!
Zoe has a few barbies that were given to her at her birthday parties but she doesn't play with them much at all. But I am very against her growing up to soon! That's why we don't let her watch Hannah Montana and High School Musical etc. even though her friends are. I just think that stuff is way to old for an eight-year-old.
I'm with you, Erin. I totally wanted my kids to be kids and not grow up too soon. Maybe you could just put Barbie in the top of the closet for awhile - bring her down when Kate is in school?? Although Haley had a princess Barbie (although she was probably in school when she got it) and we just didn't make a big deal about it - she never really liked playing with it all that much.
yeah, i put it away for now - i'm with you, johanna... i don't want to make a big deal about it, even now.
I think the fact that the barbies in the store are either too expensive or they are wearing next to nothing (thus showing off her "assets") is enough to turn me off. We haven't ventured into barbie land and probably will wait until S is older as well. I agree - there is too much out there that add to kids growing up too quickly so why add to that?
By the way, when I was a kid, I think I had 2 barbies, and my brother and I popped off their heads and grilled them on the BBQ when we were probably 8 and 10. Kind of rough for Barbie but hey, it was fun for us.
I have to say that I LOVED my Barbies growing up, by far the toy I played with the most, so I've never really questioned Barbie. But. I do feel the same way about the whole growing up too fast thing, but I've mostly been turned off by Bratz dolls and even the pets with Bratz looking eyes! I am freak about what shows Lily watches and music she listens to, but I have to say that Barbie doesn't set off my inner mom-meter.
I actually played with barbies when I was young and loved them. Zoey has a lot of barbies, but she actually started out with all the Disney Princess barbies and loved to play with them. She still loves the Disney Barbies the best, but still plays with all of them. I think if I noticed her playing weird with them and making them do adult things I would worry, but she and her friends are just cute with them. I think it just depends on the child. She has a variety of toys she plays with, dolls, puzzles, books, playdoh. I personally don't worry about her growing up too fast.
we don't have Barbies at our house since my boys think they are "gross", but I was the same way about older boy toys for my 1st little guy. I held off on the pokemon cards and bakugan, nerf guns and game systems. But, now that I have an older child that has definitely outgrown matchbox cars, trains and megablocks, the younger boys are exposed to all of the things that I shielded their older brother from. I've decided that my reaction to the toy determines how they respond more than actually playing with the toy. The world is constantly pushing our kids to grow up faster than we think they should. I think if she plays with Barbie and her "husband" Ken and plays house and dress up things like that, its no different than playing with dolls. I'd be more concerned about the shows she watches and what she hears from her playdate's older siblings than whether she was playing with Barbie. She doesn't know that Barbie has relationship issues and other adult matters until someone tells her. (definitely throw away the immodest clothes though!)
good luck!
Interesting. I myself was a barbie fanatic as a kid. I LOVED them. But I think it was in my personality to want to grow up and play/do grown up things. Even if I wasn't playing with barbie, I was playing house or teacher or something like that. So I don't necessarily think that avoiding barbie will avoid the whole grow up to soon thing, but I think it might be more in their personality whether they are inclined to like that kind of thing or not.
I DO think that 2 is a little young maybe, and that barbie's anatomy is ridiculous (those bratz dolls? no way. they are never coming in my house), so I definitely have my reservations about barbie, even though I had tons of them myself. I'm sure playing with some other toy that stimulates the imagination other than a totally ridiculous looking blonde with a boyfriend is better. Especially for a two year old. I think I will be VERY cautious what I give Paige.
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