Stealing Barbie

When I was a little girl, a new Barbie doll always topped my wish list. Christmas, birthdays or any other gift giving holiday I could think of, I asked for a new Barbie doll, Barbie clothes and tiny plastic shoes, or one of my favorites, a horse for Barbie. Alas, my parents were not the overindulgent sort and I never had a Barbie Dream house or a Barbie corvette. And I think I'm better off for the lack of spoiling, but a part of me will always wish I'd gotten to move Barbie into her dream home.

As the mother of two daughters, no matter how young, I've obviously been down the Barbie aisle of Target a time or two. And last year when making her Christmas list, EC put a Princess and the Frog Barbie doll on it. I have to admit that I was excited. An excuse to buy a Barbie doll after all these years! EC was happy to open up Princess Tiana on Christmas morning, but the doll spent most of the past few months in the toybox. EC recently pulled Barbie from the bin and started playing with her a lot and when LR started stealing the doll from EC, I assumed that she'd been smitten by Barbie as well.

So, this morning, off we went to Target, to let LR pick out her own Barbie and to get EC a new outfit for Princess Tiana. We sped through our actual Target errands - pizza cutters and granola bars and made it to the toy aisle. EC immediately went to the princess section of the aisle. There is a whole segment of this aisle just for princess Barbies and their accessories. They had dresses for Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty, but none for Princess Tiana. And these dresses came without the all-important shoes so, EC wasn't interested. Instead, she settled on a new Barbie altogether - Cinderella. LR chose the most extravagant, expensive Barbie she could find which I quickly vetoed. I may have been Barbie obsessed at age nine, but was a little too practical to spend $40 on a Barbie for a one-year-old.

Finally, LR picked out Princess Ariel with her long red hair and pink dress. Satisfied with their choices, we headed home. The minute we were in the door, the boxes had to be opened and the shoes removed. EC hasn't stopped playing with Cinderella. LR on the other hand, will play with Ariel, but she really prefers to steal Cinderella. Turns out, its not Barbie she's smitten with. She just really wants what EC has!