...Which are you trying to raise?
I would like to think that I'm raising 3 little girls to be mamas. Wives and mamas that serve others with love and compassion. Ladies that highlight the features God gave them and don't worry about who might look better or have better clothes, hair, or measurements. I want my little girls to grow into Godly, Christian ladies that are thankful for the things that God has given them, and concentrate on how they can use those things to serve God and others.
I know lots of good people that enjoyed Barbies when they were young and allow their children to play with them now. I must admit, by the time I was finished dressing and fixing her hair, I was bored and ready to move on to the next thing. I think they call that ADD...or maybe barbies just weren't my "thing". I preferred dolls to Barbies even as a child.
Little girls are practicing their "mothering skills" when they play with their dolls. They're learning to put the needs of another ahead of themselves. Dolls may not wake up crying at 3:00 A.M., nor do they smell the house up at the worst possible time, or go through 4 baskets of laundry in a single day. But, little girls are learning to love and care for someone else when they play with their babies. They are practicing and planning their futures. They are preparing to be what God created them to be: mothers! What could be a better dream to instil in our daughters than to be a Mama??
With Barbies, I'm afraid that little girls are being taught to think about the outside and the materialistic. What does she look like? Is she beautiful? Is her hair perfect? Does she have the latest clothing fashions complete with matching bags and shoes? Does she have the biggest house and the best car(s)? Is she going shopping today?
When does she stay home to care for her children? Not that shopping is wrong. I love to shop! I love cute clothes too! But it has it's place. And, how many little girls pretend that "Barbie" is changing her baby's diapers or cleaning house?
When does she stay home to care for her children? Not that shopping is wrong. I love to shop! I love cute clothes too! But it has it's place. And, how many little girls pretend that "Barbie" is changing her baby's diapers or cleaning house?
And that body! Barbie obviously never had children! She's too perfect. In fact, her measurements are impossible. There's no way any woman could have her measurements, at least not naturally.
Some questions to ask yourself when purchasing gifts/toys for your daughters:
- Does it help her to become the lady God wants her to be? I want her to be?
- Does it help her to think about others or herself?
- Does it make her wish she was more "beautiful" instead of being thankful for and highlighting the features God gave her?
Lexxi with a pie she made - completely homemade!
Her pie was awarded 2nd place by the judges that night at church.
She was proud of herself!
Thing 2 - She's crazy smart and lots of fun!
She only wants 30 kids. That's all...just 30!
Christmas will fun when she comes to visit!
(
# 4 - Our youngest...full of life and excitement.
She's too busy beating up her brother, at this point, to think about children or being a mama,
but she says she does want 6 more brothers....
but she says she does want 6 more brothers....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This post is linked to:
thanks for sharing this thought...very good!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAngela, I enjoyed this today. I'm not a Barbie fan here either.
ReplyDeleteLove your pictures. Your girls are beautiful. :)
Thank you, both! ; )
ReplyDeleteI am raising my girl to be a momma! I like to buy my girl baby dolls so that she cam pretend to be a mommy but my friend bought her a Barbie recently and I just don't like it. She's 6 and the first thing she noticed about the doll was her chest. That says it all!!! I like the fact that your daughter can bake already. That's awesome. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteenjoyed your post and agree with you. barbies are to be looked at, baby dolls are to be 'played' with and enjoyed. Sue
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post, some of my favorite toys for my daughter were her baby dolls, and dollhouse. Back in the 80's there was a line of Western Barbies, and I would set up my farm with Barbie and skipper,also back then not all Barbie stuff had to be shocking pink, if they brought back some nicer themes like this for Barbie and made hem havea more natural figure, they wouldn't be so bad. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I love nurturing the little Mama in my girls.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. My 5 year old does have barbies, but only modestly dressed ones and she actually pretends THEY are babies. lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! When trying to decide if I wanted my girls to play with Barbies, I decided that they would be okay if they were family barbies. Barbie put out a line of family barbie dolls that you can find on ebay- called Happy Family Barbies. They have a mom, dad, grandparents, and kids... I also just saw recently that Toys'R'Us has a family line of Barbies called Dream Dazzlers and they even include a family set where the mom is pregnant and includes a baby in the tummy. So even though my daughter isn't allowed to play with most barbies out there- we do allow the nice family Barbie sets!
ReplyDeleteI love your encouragement for teaching our daughters to want to be future mamas!!!
Thanks for lnking up today! Although I did grow up playing with them, we don't do Barbies either for the same reasons you have mentioned.
ReplyDeleteVery, very true! Thanks for the encouragement and you have a great blog! Keep up the good work :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
ReplyDeleteI read this back when you posted it, and it came back to me today. It really got me thinking in a way that I hadn't before. Even the hubs agreed :) (he generally has little interest in the subject of girly play toys!)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I featured your post on my blog today
http://narrowwaywife.blogspot.com
blessings ~Jen~
Hello. I really enjoy your blog! I agree about with your opinions about Barbies. I have never bought my little girl a barbie but some of our family members have and I wish they hadn't!
ReplyDeleteI have certain family members that insist on giving my girls barbie dolls every year too. We just throw them away as soon as the gadgets are lost. My girls really aren't interested in them because they know how I feel about them. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very good post! I'd like to raise mama's too and not barbies... Your kids look so sweet and you look like such a loving mama!! They've got a good example :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I had some Barbies growing up and we always played that they were a family (we had a dad, a mom, and 6 or so of the younger barbies for the kids). It was fun, but our mom sewed some modest clothes for them and I do remember playing that they were a "latest in fashions trends" type of family. So that temptation was there. I don't have any girls of my own yet, so I have never thought of what I think of my own daughters playing with Barbies. If I ever do have any girls, these are some good things to consider when playing with barbies. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFound you through the blog hop :)
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, Barbies were my favorite toys. Loved them, played with them up till 6th grade. The first time I ever heard anything negative about Barbies was once I became a mom and had a baby girl and someone asked if I would let her play with Barbies. The concerns were about the Barbie body, and what they would "teach" my kid. The thing is, I never thought that as a kid. Really, my mom never made a deal out of it, I did not even notice. Sure i noticed they had a funny body, because I could tell that was not what women looked like. Never did I think I needed to look like that, I would have thought it weird. Oh but the imagination games I got to play! The stories I created! The adventures I got to be a a part of!
So, that to say, my girls play with Barbies. Yes, they do their hair and want them to be pretty. Like they do with all their toys, even their baby dolls. My oldest has a great talent with using her hands and if you could see the hair dos her Rapunzel Barbie gets! And I get to hear their stories as they play and their adventures! And it is never centered around clothes, or appearance.
The questions you ask really are excellent. I did think about those questions, and realized how much it is the WAY they play that matters. I am thankful for the time I do spend playing with them, teaching them how to play. Encouraging the stories and the adventures. (Our Barbies actually go searching for the meaning of Christmas, and have talked to the angel that appeared to Mary, they have looked for the perfect gift for Jesus, and found the best gift to be our hearts)
Thanks for this post! It was very thoughtful and did make me pause and think about this once more.
When you get a chance, come and say hi.
Barbies today are trashy, and my girls dont play with them, but when I was growing up my sister and I used to have daring adventyres with our barbiesm, or put on plays : ) Fashion was not our concern and many poor dolls wound up decapitated because of our rough play. When I was a teen I started collecting Barbies, and never took them out of their boxes. I was recently planning on selling some and had them pulled out of storeage and my three year old managed to get one out of the box because she wanted to play with the dolly : ) I had to laugh the doll spent 15 years in a box so I could sell it and make some $$ and a toddler changed it in 3 seconds.
ReplyDelete