Saturday, September 23, 2006

Indulgence

Last week, after watching Sam remove a doll from a toy stroller by her hair and then return her to her seat upside-down, I decided it'd be good to give him an opportunity to practice being gentle before our new baby arrives. So we headed off to the toy section of Target to find a doll of Sam's own.

The first problem was that I didn't see much that met my specifications. I didn't really want a doll with special skills (like blinking, crying, peeing, smearing her own face with babyfood etc.). And she had to be cheap. Alas, while there were many dolls to choose from, most were both highly skilled (Seriously. Who wants a doll who defecates?) and highly priced.

The second problem was that Sam didn't want to leave the car & truck aisle long enough for me to thoroughly review all of the baby doll options. So instead of a doll, I bought him this:


That'll work, right?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember that we had a doll to play with. It must have been in the family for years and handed down until it got to us. The fascinating thing is that it would cry when it was moved from the upright position to the reclining position. The body was a rag composition, I think the head was plastic. We could feel the noise maker which was a cylinder embeded in the doll's back. We were very curious - so ... one day using some kind of a tool (scissors?? knife??) we opened the doll and discovered what made the noise. Mama was not happy and scolded us. A few days later she restored the cylinder to the doll and sewed a patch over it. And that's how it spent the rest of its life.

I'm not sure that we learned gentleness from this; but, we did not become surgeons either. I think that we eventually learned to be gentle. Daddy-A

Man said...

You bought the right "doll" for Sam

Peanut said...

Wow! When he told me about the cars and trucks on the phone the other day I didn't know it was that cool!

MMA Lady said...

I want one of those too! Was this as much for Sam as it was for your love of anything miniature since you think that stuff is cute? Remember your mini tootpaste / toothbrush earrings? I still have my very fun mini-magnets you bought me. The tiny cheese grater is my favorite! I hope Sam enjoys the mini construction cones as much as you do!

Ree said...

Um, that truck doesn't look very miniature to me. Was it at least cheaper than the highly skilled dolls? Also were there any dolls with numchuck skills?

Boss said...

Holy cow, Tari, is there anything about our adolescence you don't remember? You're like a living archive! It's awesome. Anyway, you are correct that I do dig the cones. I think they're not quite to scale, though, considering that they are nearly as tall as the cars.


Ree -- I didn't see a doll with nunchuck skills, but if I had I probably would have bought it. (Not sure it would have been a useful tool for teaching Sam to be gentle though.) The truck itself was cheaper than the skilled dolls (most were around $20. The truck was $13.) But then I also bought a package of cars, cause what fun is truck that can carry cars without the cars? So, all in all, the truck purchase was not a real money saver. But at least it (the truck) doesn't spit up like some of those dolls.

Boss said...

Well, Daddy-A, I hope Sam isn't as curious about the new baby as you were about that doll. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a good idea for him to investigate his/her noise-making skills.

Did you ever play with the doll again, post patch? Or did cutting her open take out all the fun?

Taffy said...

You did get the right doll for him. If you really need a cheep doll I can send you one. We have several arould our house.

CAROLIONESS said...

It has been very hard to not laugh while reading today. I guess, I should stop reading blogs during school.
Trucks are pretty cool! Nagol would love for you guys to come over to play with THAT one! So when are you coming? We have some ramps and loops!