Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Why I Play with Dolls

There are too many reasons to cover in this one blog post, but I want to cover two of them here.  The first one is quite obvious. It is so much fun!  I am able to take every bit of creativity I can muster and put it into my doll world.  Just think about it.  What other hobby allows you to sew, knit, crochet, build rooms, make furniture, design interiors, landscape, make food, make jewelry, style fashions, style hair (cut, dye, curl, perm, etc), take photos, create videos, and the list goes on and on.  It is the perfect hobby for someone like me, who needs to always be creating something different.

On to the second reason, our young ladies.  Most girls are not playing with dolls past the age of 9 or 10.  Sometimes they don't even make it that long.  Some of them don't want to play with dolls, but even those that do, tend to put them away pretty early.  Usually there is pressure, spoken and not spoken, that says "you are too old to be playing with dolls".  I beg to differ.  I've been meeting quite a few young ladies, who have been commenting about my YouTube videos and looking at my Facebook Fan Page.  I even had a 10 year old ask me if she was too old to play with Barbies.  Broke my heart!  I've had this question posed to me on several occassions, and my answer is always the same. NO! I then tell them, if they are getting pressure from friends and family, that they should start calling themselves Doll Collectors.  It has a more prestigious ring to it.

This past week I had 2 incidents happen that made me feel so proud.  The first was a young lady who introduced herself as a Barbie Producer/Director.  We proceeded to have about an hour conversation through FB.  About 45 min into the conversation, I realized that I wasn't talking to an adult, like I had thought.  Turns out this young lady was 11. LOL! I had no clue.  She was so mature in asking her questions and gathering information to further her "pending" career.  She just posted a picture of her first Barbie family on my FB fanpage.  Isn't that sweet?

The second incident happened yesterday.  One of my blog followers posted a comment on one of my latest Beach videos.  She sent me to check out her new blog, http://barbiegirlincrazyworld.blogspot.com/.  She, too, has just started a blog where she is starting to feature her Barbie families.  That didn't really shock me. What did shock me was finding out that she is only 13!  I have had a couple conversations with her before, and never had a clue that she was 13.  I probably shouldn't attempt to take any credit for her starting this blog, but since my blog is the only one she is following, how can I not!  LOL!

This is why I do what I do! I love the joy I feel when I do it, and I want others to feel joy from their dolls or other hobbies.  I also want young ladies to know there is a whole world of doll people out there that are well beyond their teenage years and we play hard!

18 comments:

  1. Always I liked the dolls and just now even I am very old, I continue finding them beautiful and I enjoy very much seeing dolls of collection ... Thanks for visiting my blog. Hugs

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  2. Good find, Vanessa. Thanks for the tip. I'll be a second follower for her.

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  3. Maria Blanca - You have a very nice blog. I look forward to seeing your future posts. Keeo playing!

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  4. D7ana - I think it's important to encourage our young girls every chance we get. Thanks.

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  5. That's so awesome! I often think about how much pressure kids today are under and how I didn't experience any of this growing up. It was much easier, back in the day, to just be a kid (at least that's what I remember). I have a little girl, 3yrs old and I worry about her growing up in today's society.

    I'm so glad you've taken some of these young ladies under your wing and that they feel comfortable enough to reach out to someone. These young ladies are opening up possible careers through imagination and play.

    Great job Vanessa, I'm going to follow her blog as well.

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  6. It's nice to know that there are still young girls out there who act their age! I'm all for encouraging them! Good find Vanessa!

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  7. Thanks everyone for supporting our young ladies!

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  8. I am a firm believer that there is no cut-off age for doll play, collecting, enjoying, admiring. I always cringe when I hear, "She's/you're too old to play with dolls." Hogwash! A girl is never too old to play with dolls.

    Kudos to you Vanessa for being an inspiration to those who also know that doll play has no age limits.


    dbg

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  9. DBG - We are living proof that you are never too old! LOl! Most parents don't even know that doll collectors even exist. I think they would be surprised if they knew how big doll collecting really is.

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  10. One of the best things about playing with dolls is that I get to create and experience a world that is as I feel it could be! I think we all do that to one degree or another. In doing this we send hope out into the world.

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  11. YES!! I love this post. I think it is so important for girls to have an outlet for their feelings, dreams, creativity - it also builds skills in all the areas you talk about. Also, I've read that self-esteem comes from creation -not compliments. Girls build their self-esteem by writing stories, shooting photos, making things! I will follow her too!

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  12. playbarbies - That is so true! Self esteem is so critical to our successes. Thanks for supporting dear Hailey.

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  13. Ms. Leo - I love that I can have a husband and kids that don't cause me so much grief! Not to say that one day I wouldn't love to have another husband and kids in my life. But for now, and always if necessary, my little people will do just fine.

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  14. Bravo! Well said Vanessa. These are my top two reasons as well. I even started a Doll Club in the Elementary school. I started a pilot with some of the girls from my child's class. I figured the parents knew me and that would ease any parental fears. I encourage the girls to write their storylines, take their own photos, make their own rooms...there is so much fun to be had. Thanks so much for posting this thread on your blog.

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  15. This is so beautifully stated. My local doll group teaches crocheting for dolls at a local library every 3 months. We all donate yarn and crochet hooks and bring patterns. In March, we had 30 students. I only started playing with dolls as an adult and am making up for lost time.

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  16. TiaNor - That is so awesome! I want to start an online doll club soon. I want to get all the young girls who are talking to me, talking to each other, too.

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  17. Valerie - Welcome to the wonderful world of dolls! Better late than never. Crocheting is one of those things on my "learn to do well list". I know how to crochet, but I have a hard time following a pattern.

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  18. I am 11 and I still play with Barbies and AG Dolls. I love them!

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