Birthday Girl

"It's an American Girl doll," beamed Jannah-Rae when she opened the box. And although it wasn't really an American Girl doll, it was! It was what she had been craving following her intimate experience with the library dolls and she was thrilled to have one she could keep. My friend in Portland had sent her the "Birthday Girl" outfit and the surprise came out all too well. The perfect ending to a great year ahead. Happy Birthday Jannah-Rae, one last time for this year!

(non) American Girl Girl ~ project complete

The last email exchange went as such:

From: Ranya, JR and JR Mike
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 5:29 AM
To: Anne
Subject: Re: Dolls

Ann, Good morning!!

We are ready for a new batch. We will be stopping by on Friday for the switch. Also, I made arrangements to bring Jannah-Rae in on the 23rd.

~Ranya

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: "Ranya, JR and JR Mike"
Sent: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 2:15 PM
Subject: RE: Dolls
From: Anne

Ranya,

There are no more dolls to clean!!! You’ve made it through all of them. This project is COMPLETE!

I can’t wait to meet Jannah-Rae.

Youth Collections Librarian

And with that the project came to an end. I frankly didn't see it coming, and neither did Jannah-Rae. I had always thought these girls would keep on coming. 68 dolls that needed a regular cleaning. I had envisioned the cycle: they would be taken home, gotten used, returned to the library, sent to be sanitized, returned into circulation. What I didn't ask about is the length of the cycle; I later found out the cycle was every six months. And so I had promised JR another group of ten girls to take home for another week, I was not prepared for the tears that ensued.

"But I love these dolls," came her first reply. "I know, sweetie," I tried to reassure her. "You did a wonderful thing by helping the library," I tried to emphasize. But she is not yet five, and grew attached to the dolls. "Can I have one for my birthday?" came the next question. And to that I had to fabricate something. Jeff and I had bought her a doll similar to the American Girl on a trip to New York once and we were planning on giving it to her for one of her birthdays; and it seems like this would be the best birthday to give it to her on. But I did not want to divulge the secret. "Maybe Auntie Janet will get you one," I said. Of course JR had an answer ready, "but she doesn't know I want one!" "You never know," I closed, "she might surprise you."

And with that I tried to shift her focus from having no dolls, to enjoying them while they were still around. We set out to play with them as much as we could. She picked two of her favorite ones and made them her own. We played restaurant, took them to the mall and the bookstore, sat them down for breakfast and dinner, and put them to sleep. They rode the carousel with us, went to our friend's house and FaceTimed Baba. It was amazing to see her interact with these dolls. I wonder if she will grow just as fond of the one she will soon receive!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dropping off the last batch and saying goodbye was bittersweet

(non) American Girl Girl ~ No dolls for us

My first exposure to the American Girl (AG) doll was one day at the Mall of America (MOA). My parents had just moved to the US and we had taken them on a trip to Minnesota to meet the extended Mike family. One cold day, and aren't most of them as such in MN!, we decided to show them the biggest mall they had ever seen. And so a road trip to MOA ensued. It was right after Christmas but the mall was still dressed up extra special.

After walking around and seeing the usual corporate chain stores, buying a load of holiday chocolates from Lindt which was on clearance after December 26th rolled around, and remarking on the indoor amusement park, we decided to see what else made MOA so special. And thus we found ourselves in front of a three floors store catering just for dolls.

Our jaws dropped and our eyes opened wide. Still new to the culture of American capitalism, consumerism, and retail therapy, we could not comprehend the concept behind such magnification of and dedication to doll, and frankly I still do not understand! We stood in awe of all the effort and detail and attention put into marketing dolls and all their accessories to girls from a young age.

Shoes, underwear, hair brushes, sports gear, casts, wheelchairs and crutches to assist with injuries acquired from using said sports gear, eye glasses, braces, retainers, furniture, books and CDs, and the list goes on for things you could buy for your AG doll once you have settled on your loved one.

And not only that, but your purchasing power allows you to match the doll to yourself and  your interests, or is it the other way around!

We were mesmerized, especially when we saw the price tags! While you could bring home a doll for a little over $100, it was everything that came after that that added up.

One could possibly graduate from college with the money they would potentially spend over the years outfitting and caring for their doll.

Walking through the store cheerful ladies holding their favorite dolls greeted us and asked if they could help us. We saw a long line at one end, and wondered what all these girls were waiting for: their turn at the doll salon! For $12 you could get a professional braid for your doll! For $12 I could have my own hair cut!!! We were speechless! And even more so when we were asked if we had reservations at the cafe and were told there was a wait to be seated! Of course, we waited; I wanted to see what the buzz was about. Whipped cream with sprinkles, bite sized desserts and high chairs and pretend treats for your doll to dine on. It was certainly an experience.

On that day, and during that time, I decided that I was not going to take my family down the AG doll lane should I have a daughter. There may well be other doll lanes that we travel, but this was not going to be one of them. I felt that AG dolls had their own culture and life-style circling around them, were so consumer oriented and that you could do not AG half-way. I saw girls walking around touting their look-alike dolls down to the hairdo and I just did not picture myself doing that with my daughter.

And then I had a daughter!...