Lets Play Barbies!

I was babysitting a two year old named Addison the other day, and watching her play with her Barbies got me thinking.....

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As a child, I loved Barbies. I was a total tomboy but man did I love Barbies. I had probably 150, along with all the essentials... Barbie dream house, bath tub, convertible, and hair salon. I also had the special tape player and all of the cassette tapes (looking back, what music was even on those tapes? Probably subliminal messages telling us to buy more plastic crap).

Anyway, regardless of my love for getting muddy and never brushing my hair, I loved having Barbies. However, there was a major problem. I refused to keep any of their clothes on! That is right, I had 150 naked Barbies in my playroom and I had no desire to change it.

My parents used to beg me to put clothes on my dolls, but I refused. I referred them in the buff, and would not hear otherwise. I am sure they were beyond embarrassed when guests would come over and see the pile of naked dolls.

I was certain that all little girls acted this way. Every girl that got a Barbie for her birthday would thank Sally for the great gift and them promptly strip the doll naked and toss her in the pile with the other nudists. Truth was, all of my friends managed to keep their dolls' clothes on and their parents did not hide their faces when their kid took the doll in public.

I loved showing off my Barbies. I would hold them up proudly and say, "Look, this is Lifeguard Barbie! See?" Clearly there was no way of telling if it were Lifeguard, Traffic Guard, or even Doctor Barbie.... they all had ZERO clothes on! But I insisted on knowing which one was which.

I wil say, I did exercise some self restraint when it came to the special limited edition Christmas Barbies. These were something to be envied, and I knew it. I would brag at school to all my friends that I had every single Christmas Barbie since I was born (which to a 6 year old, is a long time!). These Barbies remained in their boxes and sat on my shelf, looking down at me, and constantly taunting me with their beautiful dresses. I somehow managed to never open any of their boxes... something I am thankful for today but am sure nearly sent me to the psych ward at the age of 8.

I wonder if Kirsten will be a Barbie nudist like her mom?