Ihaven't yet met a girl in the 8-12 year old age bracket who doesn'tsalivate atthe sight of blue spotted boxes. My own eight year-oldpractically burstinto tears of excitement ater receiving the American Girl©"Marisol"as a surprise gift from a family friend. As Mother's of thesedoll-lovingdaughters we are torn. Every time we see the pile of doll shoes,or theplastic tubs filled with the clothes that won't fit in to the $200 dolltrunk,or the American Girl© shampoo on the shower shelf, we strugglewith a love/haterelationship. Here's list of love/hate reasons.
The Love List:
- American Girl© dolls aregorgeous! These dolls are gorgeous. I remember the first timeI saw an American Girl© doll. I was a Nanny for a wealthyfamily in the Hamptons. We visited another family whose two young daughters’ brought out theirvery treasured, very well looked-after dolls. I was a 20 year-oldcollege student at the time yet I spent the remainder of that afternoonignoring my charges. Who could resist the steamer trunk withlittle drawers, coat hangers and hat boxes? Who could resist thehairstyle potential given the tiny box of styling accessories? Who could resist the outfits?
- American Girl© dolls have aneducational aspect. Supposedly. Prior to the introduction ofthe "Just Like You" doll every doll was created with an associatedhistorical period. Theoretically this encourages our deardaughters to learn about history through a historical book series andhistorically accurate clothing and accessories. Not. Mydaughter who is a voracious reader, she can do a book a night if Iforget to tell her "lights out" time, declared the books "boring" afterreading two. The historically accurate accessories? Nope, not toointerested in those either.
- American Girl© dolls encourageimaginary play. We have all read the articles. There is aproven and direct correlation between dramatic play and success inschool and social development. What better to encourage imaginary playthan a gorgeous doll and a ton of accessories? I have to agreewith this one.
TheHate List:
- American Girl© stuff isexpensive! Who can keep up? A single doll - made in Chinafor $5 I would imagine - costs a staggering $85. Then itstarts. You can't just have a doll. You have tohave a trunk with little drawers, coat hangers and hat boxes (see TheLove List reason #1).
- American Girl© is a hugecontributor to one of the most negative values we are instilling in ourchildren today. Conspicuous consumption. Back in 1990 when Isaw my first American Girl doll those very wealthy children had onedoll each. They knew this doll was special and that theywere lucky to have one. Today my daughter's best friend hassix. Six! They aren't special when you have six. Haveyou ever been to the American Girl store? My extremely practicaland frugal Scottish Mother-in-law got physical ill on our visit to the New Yorkstore. She watched all the little girls storming through thedepartments and leaving with armloads of red shiny bags and literallyhad to go outside and get some air. Is it not terrifying thatAmerican Girl© offers a $600 Ritz-Carlton package for a visit tothe New Yorkstore and parents actually purchase it?
Sowhat is a Mommy to do? Buy them of course. They aregorgeous (seeThe Love List reason #1). Yes they are expensive and yes they encouragequestionable values in others, but it doesn't mean the products need toencourage questionable values in your daughter. I decidedlong agothat I had lost the fight so I decided to use the dolls as a teachingtool.
TheLesson List:
- There is such a thing as too muchof a good thing! - We taught my daughter that these dolls arespecial. We told her how much they cost and translated in toterms she could understand. Yes - for teh price of one doll youcould actually buy 150 chocolate bars and eat a bar of chocolate everyday for 5 months! She knows that she appreciates her dolls muchmore than her friend who has six.
- Saving Rocks! - She pined forthe doll bed with the attached closet and vanity. I told her Iwouldn't buy it for her. Evil maybe but I couldn't see spending$160 on a lump of wood and a few stickers. She saved for it, andI mean really saved. It took her two Holidays and lots ofallowance money but she got it in the end - and couldn't wait to startsaving for her next purchase.
- Beware the power of marketing andbranding! - Once she got the saving thing down I took her to theweb and showed her how much further her money would go if she weren'tblinded by the power of brand. We actually even had conversationsinitiated by her as to whether advertising was fair. She gets it, andhas become a great bargain hunter for non-branded products to fit herAmerican Girl©. She is after all working within a verylimited budget.
Let'sface it. You love the dolls, you can't escape them. Makethem workfor you.
For affordable clothes, shoes, furniture, jewelry and some really coolaccessories to fit your American Girl© you can visit Emily Rose - Doll'sClothes &Accessories
