Saturday, December 10, 2005

Girls Rule

Today I went to buy a gift for a nine year old girl I will never meet.

I'm contributing to a Christmas gift program at my son's school that gives gifts to poor Asian children in Chinatown. One of the girls drew an angel and signed it "girl, age 9".

I spent hours roaming all the aisles of the toy department. Looking for that perfect gift for a stranger. I know there are other people who grab anything and dump it in the box at school but that kind of karma makes me sick.

I come from a half baked catholic background so I believe if I take a lot time to pick just the right gift - maybe I'll make that girl really happy.

So I bought this craft thing called Flower Power/Lightastic. You create these flower arrangements by mixing and matching different petals and leaves that come in all different colors. The flowers are plugged into a psychedelic looking flower pot that lights them up electrically. The flowers glow in your room all night - if you want them to.

More reasons why I like Flower Power:

1. It glimmery and glowy which is good for a nine year old girl. She doesn't have many more girlyhood days ahead of her.
2. You can keep on changing it into different flowers and colors so it doesn't end with your first design.

I'll never forget the day when I stopped playing with my 1973 Malibu Barbie. I loved her and her cool camper. I used to pretend she was a lead singer in a rock band and in the French resistance at the same time.

I just remember holding her in my hands and looking at her cool 70's clothes and wanting desperately to feel that same thrill I got as I revved up for our next adventure. The empty feeling was scary and sad for me.

Somehow I knew it was the beginning of the end of my childhood.

6 comments:

Rozanne said...

Malibu Barbie in the French Resistance! One of the few career scenarios Mattel never came up with for her. (At various times they turned her into an airline pilot, astronaut, doctor, and Olympic athlete.)

In retrospect, Malibu Barbie was really scary. That skin! Can you imagine how Crocodile Dundeeish she'd look now if she were a real person?

Julie Marsh said...

That sounds like a fantastic gift! I may have to look for it myself - Tacy's young, but I bet she'd love it.

I never really had many dolls, even Barbies, but I remember re-reading my "kids" books when I was too grown up for them. Some of them are actually much more enjoyable as an adult.

Dr. Deb said...

I think you are doing such a lovely thing. I never did the barbie thing, being a tomboy and all, but I can see the allure of it all.

~Deb

Kranki said...

You are soooo sweet.

Milliner's Dream, a woman of many "hats"... said...

Sounds like today's version of my old LiteBrite! I think it sounds like fun. :)

Hh

P.S. I thought of you while I was leading the children's choir in the church Christmas program Sunday evening. :) No kidding!

JT said...

I relate. I played with Barbies and paper dolls until I was 12 or 13. And I didn't get my period until I was almost 16. I've always wondered if there was a connecting, as if the Barbies had the effect of keeping those fertility hormones at bay?

For all those reading, I've said it before, secret Santa Ellen is one of the most thoughtful people you will ever meet.