American Girl Dolls

Is there a better toy in the world than American Girl Dolls?

Nana bought the girls their dolls for Christmas and we have not had ONE day since then that they haven't played with them, carried them around and changed their clothes. They love them so much!

Today Amelia put Nicky in her backpack for Show and Tell. When she got home, I was outside waiting for the neighbor to bring her home. She had Nicky in her arms and told me that Nicky was very scared in her dark backpack, and she had to get her out and just hold her.

Mikayla puts her doll in outfits and then matches her own to them. I am writing this post, but I won't even post it until I get a picture of what "Emily" does at ballet. Seriously, she gets her all dressed and then stands her up at the window to watch. It is so dang cute.

Anyway, they use their imagination. They are learning to coordinate clothes (ya, it's a big deal in our house and needs a lot of work). They are learning to be compassionate. They are learning to share (not one fight over the shared clothing). They are learning the value of a dollar (After finding out that one pair of shoes cost $10 at the AG Doll Store, Amelia said, "You mean, that's more than two visits from the Tooth Fairy?????" and then decided she'd wait on them. They are learning to keep things organized (they keep everything in their AG backpacks and don't want them mixed in with their other toys. They learned that they might have the coolest Nana in the world for buying the dolls for them.

And what have I learned? Well, I've learned that if you spritz their hair with water and rub it with a dryer sheet, their hair looks BRAND NEW. I've learned that boots are harder to put on than shoes, so if we're in a hurry, tell the girls that a certain pair of shoes is "more fashion" than the boots. I've learned that 4 and 6 year old girls have no clue if clothes are authentic AG clothes, or rip offs from a mom that sews them and sells them on Ebay. I've learned that Coconut (Mik's dog) is every bit as important to her as her doll is. I've learned that dressing the dolls in new outfits and putting them in various places around the house while the girls are at school makes them think that their dolls were home playing with me while they were gone. I've learned that you can buy the cheap dolls after Christmas ($5.75, $22.00 before Christmas) at Kroger and take all the clothes off them and the extra clothes and accessories they come with and give the dolls to Goodwill and I spent less than I would have on extra clothes, even on Ebay.

And thank you Mom for the best toys in the whole world!