My Conservative American Girl Doll Experience

Have you seen this photo essay on American girls and their American Girl dolls? It is a commentary on American girl's and I think it is also one on our American consumerism. From the article:

 “I’ve noticed that girls do not really care as much about the books and stories that come with the dolls,” wrote [Ilona] Szwarc [the photographer]. “They are much more interested in clothes and accessories, so the educational message functions as a marketing tool for parents rather than as an inspiration for girls to learn.”

It is also a commentary on how when parents buy"educational" toys and don't follow through it does not really do anything for the kids, unless of course they were geeky like me.

I read all the American Girl books before I had my Molly doll. I am not really sure what got me started on the American Girls, but it probably was the library. My older sister, S, got her Samantha doll before I got my Molly doll. She asked for money for her First Communion so that she could get her doll. I got Molly for my birthday I think; it must have been my eighth birthday. My parents gathered the expected monetary gifts, I think I may have even put allowances toward it, and they made up the difference. I think it was the summer between second and third grade? I got glasses in third grade and I know I got Molly before I had glasses. I was so happy when I got glasses. I even picked out glasses to match Molly's. But rather than spend all my money accessorizing (though I spent hours looking at the catalogs longingly which was way better than the sappy website they have now), I just read the books over and over again.

I was the kid who spent all day everyday reading books. My parents begged me to go play outside, but I was content to have my nose in a book. What I loved about the American Girl books was how they really did give a look into the history of our country in an interesting way. I loved learning history through the books. My favorite books to read were always historical fiction; they still are! It is too bad that many American girls do not care about the history of our country and just want the doll and the accessories. Maybe that is the result of the fact that the American girl books are not good literature anyway.

So instead of reading the American Girl doll books, I am going to have my girl's read the classics about American children in history: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, and so on. I guess I should check out more the children's classic chapter books before my kids get to that age. The books that are still read that withstand the test of time are the ones that really will help our kids be better people. They teach our kids about virtue: friendship, perseverance, charity, obedience, patience, faith, etc. They teach our kids the importance of family and strong marriages. They teach our kids about those who came before us, and teach them how virtue, family, and friendship are essential for living the Good Life. The best thing about the classic books are that they were written by those who lived at the time they are describing. They don't fantasize about the past or put it down, but depict the author's experience of their present time which is our past. In this way we can really learn about our history.

As for the dolls, I doubt we will spend hundreds of dollars for American girl dolls for the kids. Clearly the dolls do not make the children happy, and my doll is not contributing to my happiness in anyway (except perhaps for the hours I spent with my best friend playing with our dolls as children). I will pass on my Molly doll when they are old enough to no destroy her. Or maybe I will just put her in a glass case and tell them stories about my childhood in reference to the doll.

7 Quicktakes Friday--2012: The Year of Stress and Blessings

I never did a highlights of 2012, and since I still don't have a lot of time to blog I am going to combine them with Friday Quicktakes:

Why 2012 was a stressful year:

1. Job Inteviews: A year ago at this time M and I were probably the most stressed we had ever been in our lives. He had finished his first round of interviews and was waiting for call backs for the second round. He was blessed with five on-campus interviews during February, which meant for me that he was traveling 14 of the 28 days. He had 21 flights (including connecting flights). While I was really happy he was getting interviews, when I heard about the last one (which had him gone for 3 nights and 4 full days) I called my mother-in-law for help with the kids. She was able to take the time and help me out which was awesome. All of the worrying proved to be worth it since he got offered his top choice of interviewing schools and accepted the offer.

2. Leaving the Awesome People of Buffalo: I could say that the thing I miss most about living in Buffalo was Wegmans, but that would be a lie and I do not morally agree with lying. So, I will get a little bit sentimental here and say that I really miss (we all miss) our friends from Buffalo. They accepted us foreigners from somewhere in the middle of the country to Western New York into their network of young Catholic families. I had my first babies with these people as our friends, learned about being a new wife and a new mom from them, shared my heart with them, prayed with them, and they were the best friends I could have asked for. If you are reading this, you better know I miss you!

3. Moving 980 Miles with Two Small Children While Pregnant: I have to confess being pregnant while moving had its perks (read: I did not do any of the heavy lifting), but being pregnant means lots of hormones which means lots of emotions about lots of things that do not always require emotions... Also, when you are driving the car and your husband is driving the truck (when he has never driven a UHAUL before) makes you really stressed. All sorts of awful scenarios were running through my head.

4. Spending Five Weeks Between Buffalo and St. Paul Visiting Family:  This could look like that we do not enjoy spending time with our families, which is not true. Five weeks without a home of our own is a long time, and imagine the famous "grandparent effect" (see last week) built up over five weeks. I also missed my bed. My bed spent those five weeks propped up on its side in my in-laws garage, and we are very thankful to them for storing our stuff between cities. One of the ways I relieved my stress during this time was by going to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard four times during our week in St. Louis.

5. Moving to a New City in a State I Never Had Been in Before: My first time in Minnesota was the day we drove to our house (which we are renting). After we unpacked I had to figure out where all the stores were, directions from place to place, find new doctors (which I am still doing) and all the things one does to settle into a entirely new city...

6. New Job for M: We are so thankful for his job, but new jobs are an adjustment. He is the "new guy" and the young guy also. But we are blessed that he has an awesome job in an awesome philosophy department and through it we are making some awesome friends. :)

7. Having a Third Child: I have heard again and again that the transition from two kids to three kids is the most difficult. I believe it (until we have our next I suppose). While F has been the easiest baby so far, sometimes I stop and wonder if I am missing someone. I am pretty sure that this is a sign that I am stressed as I get used to three kids and not that I am ready for another.

The sunset in Iowa that my parents witnessed on their way to St. Paul on the day F was born.

I just want to say before I go (and cook dinner) that while all of these things are stressful, they are also ways that we have been blessed this year. God has been so good to us and we are so thankful (even if we are stressed)!

New Mom-skill!

Today on the way home from Trader Joe's the big girls were happily sucking on the suckers they earned by finding the bunnies hidden in the store. These suckers are great because they are all-natural with no random weird dyes in them. When G finished her sucker she asked me to throw a wipe back to her since she was sticky. I first told her I could not since she was all the way in back of the mini-van (something I really miss about not driving a sedan is that I can't reach the kids from the front seat). Then we came to a red light and I thought, "Hey, why not?"

I pulled a wipe out of the diaper bag, scrunched it down into a ball, twisted around and did a weird sideways throw and hit G (who was directly two rows behind my seat) in the shoulder. Since wipes don't bounce it stayed on her shoulder and when she figured out where it was she used it and then let L have a turn with it.

Anyone else mastered the art of throwing things to kids at red lights?