It's been a long, long time. But, now we're reunited. Finally. Barbie, I missed you. 
Yes, I know I turned my back to you after my BFF discovered my stash shoved underneath my bed after a seventh grade basketball game. But, seriously, it was time. Now we're together again after Kaci caught the fever and thankfully begged for Barbies for her birthday. And, wow! The twenty-first century Barbie is so much better. Diamond castles, gorgeous outfits, and even a soccer coach Barbie. Amazing.
Why did I love Barbies so much? I loved creating stories, settings, and characters. Barbies were the beginning of my writing career. So many Friday nights I spent memorizing DALLAS so I could run back into my room and recreate the Pam and Bobby scenes. Then, during the day, I would do the same thing with soaps. Okay, it was blatant plagiarism, but it was the beginning of plotting. And, I always knew I needed a Ken, Barbie, mean Ken, and mean Barbie. Hence, the beginning of character development. :)
However, Barbie and I do have one unresolved issue. What's the deal? How come I didn't grow up to look like you?
Did you play with Barbies? If not, what did you play with obsessively? For the moms and dads out there, what toy do you secretly enjoy playing with? :)
SCREWBALL News: We're gearing up for the release of CHANGE UP, the sequel to SCREWBALL. In the meantime, SCREWBALL is the number one bestseller at the Pretty Tough shop. Yay! Thanks, readers. :)
Pretty Tough Tuesday: I'm over at Pretty Tough today blogging about my trip to Texas. :)
Have a jolly day, everyone! :)
29 comments:
I was not a Barbie fan, but I did play with her sister, Skipper. I was more into books.
Have a good Tuesday.
Hi, Dru! I definitely related more to Skipper. I was looking for her the other day and I couldn't find her. :) Bummer. You too! ;)
I loved my Barbie, and wanted a Ken doll. My mom got me G.I. Joe instead, lol. Messed me up for life!
Hi, Marianne! Ha! Hmm.. Spicy. :) Is your hubby in the military? :)
I still have a couple of my Barbies - they are not in the best shape. I used to make clothes for them that I thought were cool, but now I see they were really pretty funky.
My sis and I played Barbies all the time. Constantly. Or horses.
My daughter - not so much. She's more about superheroes.
A fab toy I love to play with are Magnatiles. You won't want to stop.
Loved Barbies...and I totally made up stories with them, too. Although, I never liked Ken. My Barbies had sordid affairs with my brother's GI Joes. The size difference was awkward, but it was lurve.
Hi, Adrienne! How creative. :) Wow. What did you use?
Hi, PJ! I'll have to check out the Magnatiles. :)
Hi, Beth! I know. I didn't like Ken's plastic hair. Nice! GI Joes were so much hotter. :)
I was a huge Barbie fan! Our Barbies pretty much owned our basement and when we moved into an apt. while our new house was being built you would have thought that we didn't own any other toys. Keri, I'm like you, I loved creating stories and drama for those dolls! I liked Skipper, too, but she was a little bit before my time and not as popular once I got into the dolls. We also had these awesome Breyer (?) horses from my mum and we had a whole farm thing going on.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Like you, that's totally where my writing career began.
So did you choreograph intricate fight scenes for your Barbies? Admit it. Nice Barbie finally got fed up with mean Barbie's crap and snapped, didn't she?
Oh, yeah. I was all about the Barbie. I used to collect model horses too, so my Barbies were all equestrians!! How fun to get to play with them again, and you're right, it really was the first foray into plotting!
You forgot something... 21st century barbies and Barbie paraphenalia is much more expensive!
Teri
Hi, Stephanie! Another huge Barbie fan. :) You should come over and play with Kaci and I. :) Although, I was never into the horse thing. I fell off one during a Brownies trip.
Hi, Big Plain V! Sorry. All verbal. Wait, maybe there was a hair pulling incident after the Dallas episode. :) LOL!
Hi, Alyson! Yay! Another fan. We should bring some Barbies to the next conference to help with Writer's Block. :)
Hi, Teri! Hah! So true. The major nice Barbies used to be like $10. And the Barbie Dream House, which my parents wouldn't let me have because they felt it stunted my creativity and I should spend my time building houses with legos and wooden blocks, was like $30. :)
my mom has all my old barbies somewhere in the attic i'm sure. good memories! i used to have a huge barbie house, too!
i was never huge into barbies. it was emotional shielding- my big bro had a habit of ripping their heads off. loved stuffed animals, tho, i had a name for each one and always made up stories for them... good times...;-)Also, i never put down books. that was always a biggy for me, still is. one ive just gotten into recently is the rubik's cube. can anyone here do one? i can get close, but i dont know the pattern yet for doing the last part...
I never had a Barbie.
Congrats on being #1 at Pretty Tough shop.
Hi, Virginia! Nice. :)
Hi, Beth! I've never been able to figure out the cube. My brother can.. Sorry to hear about the heads. :(
Hi, Amy! Thanks. :) I feel like a should send you a Barbie. :)
My Barbie love went into hiding in sixth grade, after my wicked stepsister discovered my secret stash in a shoebox in a closet. She made fun of me to her sister and I was humiliated. So I was thrilled when my daughter was old enough for Barbies. I think, at one point, she had nearly 40 because I was always buying them for her! And when she was ready to outgrow them (which happen at her own pace, thankfully) we saved her favorites so she'll have lots of them to share with her daughter one day.
All that said, I DO thing playing with Barbies promotes imaginative play and probably IS a good tool for budding writers. *looks around for a couple of Barbies*
I liked and like Barbie because here's a female who could do anything from ride horses to be an astronaut. Whatever she put her mind to, she could do.
The physicality never bothered me, since I never had any interest of standing 12 inches tall and always looking like I was on tiptoes from the high heels.
I loved making up stories about the dolls' adventures, though.
Hi, Trish! Since the post, I'm finding out a bunch of us were big Barbie fans. We should form a group and meet once a month to play. :) I feel for you regarding the secret stash. :)
Hi, Devon! :) Hilarious. Another writer Barbie lover. :)
A group of us kids used to role-play the TV shows. And my sister and I had this crazy game....we begged to bring our bikes when we were away from our house in a new neighborhood. Then we'd ride randomly until we got lost. (It didn't seem like we were really LOST lost if we were together) and then we'd have to find our way home.
My kids' toys that I love are the building toys - magnet blocks, magnet pieces, marble ramps and we even have this great building toy with bricks and mortar.
Like you, I played with Barbies way into junior high until I was discovered. I knew a girl who played with them in high school.
Yow.
Keri, You are so right. I never put that together... or maybe I did and I forgot... but you're right. As little girls, often times the kind of play we do is the precursor to becoming a writer. I always made up scenarios for my friends and I to act out. Fascinating. I read on JK Rowling's site that she did this too as a little girl - she would make up elaborate stories for her and her sister to act out.
Hi, Angela! Kaci is really into building toys too. That's my hubby's specialty. :)
Hi, Carrie! :) Yikes.
Hi, Sheri! I know it's crazy. :)
I loved playing with Barbies and other dolls long past when it was "cool", too, and for the same reason! Although I didn't use movies and television shows as blueprints; instead, it was like a serial with the same characters each time but in different situations. And their names were *never* plain, boring old Barbie and Ken.
I myself never owned a Barbie, but I did have a Strawberry Shortcake doll. They smelled so good.
ha Justin had a Strawberry Short Cake. I had Barbies but they were always the ones you keep in the box as my mom and dad told me. Or my brother would steal them cyt off all their hair and dress them in camo because he ran out of GI Joes.
Hi, Caryn! Love it.. :) Me neither - it was Bob, Debbie, Denise, and Travis.
Hi, Justin! Strawberry Shortcake? Do you still have her? :)
Hi, Kaitlyn! LOL :)
I did play with Barbies! I remember I had a horse, too to go with her. I would have loved to have all the stuff my daughter has! My daughter plays with them too (but also has Hannah Montana and HSM dolls also). My four year old son even joins us in playing (but he uses a power ranger!)
Post a Comment