One of Those Moms

Since Daniel's parents now live in the same area as us, and my parents still live in the same area, our kids were blessed with an overabundance of Christmas presents this year. Really I mean too many presents. I now realize that I could have just bought nothing, and they still would have had too many gifts between Grandma, Nana, and Santa.

So, we have decided to break up all the present-opening festivities by starting Christmas yesterday. The kids got about a quarter of their gifts yesterday, and they're actually very happy with that. But we still have lots to go.

One of the gifts that Abby opened up last night is Kit Kittredge, an American Girl doll. Now, some of my family already knows how badly I wanted one of these dolls when I was little. I would carry around the catalog, look through it all day, and dream about having my own American Girl doll with all the accessories. However, they are somewhat expensive, and I never got one.



Don't you see how cute she is? Anyway, now that Abby has one, I find myself wanting to hold the doll, fix her hair, help change her clothes... I really, really like this doll. Every time Abby plays with the doll, I watch to make sure she's careful. If Avery grabs the doll, I tell him no and take it away. I think I'm obsessed with this doll, guys.

The problem is, when my cousin was younger she had expensive dolls. Her mom kept them in her closet, up on a really high shelf, or in a box. My cousin was not even allowed to play with these dolls, because they were so "special." My mom always thought that was wrong, and commented on it to me a lot. I agreed at the time - that was weird.

But... Now I feel like I'm starting to become one of those moms. You know, like I'm compensating for my lack of an American Girl doll by over-protecting this one. I even suggested that we keep poor Kit Kittredge in her little doll casket (Daniel's words for the box she came in), and put her in the closet until Abby is older. After all, Abby didn't really like the doll that much until she saw how much I like the doll.

Now I'm fighting my urges and actually letting her have the doll in her room. She's still in the box, under the pretense that "the boys might ruin her." Abby has already changed Kit's clothes once, dressing her in a more Christmas-y outfit. I already had to re-fix her hair.

*sigh* Having a daughter is a great way to get all the toys you once wanted but never got, but it's so hard to remember that these are her toys, not yours.