Trashcan trauma
When I was a little girl I received a huge doll from my great-grandma. It was a very special doll to me. My great-grandma died not too long after this and this doll was a special memory for me.
I took it wherever I went and loved dressing her up. We were the best of friends. Here is a picture of me and my doll.
My mom thought that the doll was hideous and too big. She always tried to talk me into another doll, but I refused. I had always a love for the not-so-perfect-looking things (You should have seen the Christmas trees in the years I got to pick them, not the picture perfect ones, not straigth, not full with green needles and even but they were special to me).One day I couldn't find my doll and looked everywhere for her. I couldn't find her. I went outside to play with my brother. We would go out and explore the world, the forest and our neighborhood. We also looked in the trashcan of our apartment complex (kids!) and I was petrified when I saw my loving doll in the trashcan!!! My mom thought I would never find out and forget about her. I was so mad and got her out immediately.
My Mom apologized a million times, but I was a pretty upset doll mom and was sure she would never be able to make up for this.
One day my mother learned to make Waldorf dolls. I was the lucky receiver of her first self-made doll. She put all her love in it and gave it to me. I LOVED this doll. I soon realized how soft and fun it is and forgot all about the big plastic doll. The little Waldorf doll is still alive and treasured. It's my little Miss Sunshine:
My daugther Laneah is 3 years old and has a really ugly plastic doll with sound. I find it rather ugly, BUT I will let her keep her doll. The love/bond you can have for a doll is priceless. But I do want to give her a lovingly made Waldorf doll one day too. One that she can cuddle and love and dress up. A doll that will remind her of me and be a special treasure to her for the rest of her life and maybe even for her own baby girl. This might be my chance...thank you Juliane for this giveaway! I´ll keep my fingers and toes crossed.
1 comments:
Oh Stefanie, this is such a great story!
When I get requests for custom dolls, people often tell me that their child is in love with an ugly plastic doll and that they as parents would want to give their child a nicer doll, a pedagogically more valuable doll, made of organic materials, according to all the wise books they have read about children.
Very often I refuse these requests of making a Fröken Skicklig doll to replace another. A child who is in love with a doll, as ugly or plastic as it could be, has already found a true little fellow. And when I see this photo, I can sense how much you loved your doll...
I do hope I will always keep in mind that it is more important to encourage children to listen to their heart (and that it is no problem to love an ugly plastic doll) than to teach them to answer all our expectations.
Thank you for sharing your memories with us!
Warm greetings,
Juliane
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