Backstory: On a trip to Chicago, my mom took my 20-year-old sister’s American Girl doll to have her gnarled hair re-braided. This woman needs grandchildren, stat!
This evening we took Molly over to the American Girl store to get her hair done – it is a rainy, blustery day in Chicago so we put her in the hotel laundry bag and off we went.
As I walked up to the salon counter, the lady there said, “Oh, has Molly come for a hair style?” Yes, indeed and we also signed her up for the Pampering Plus package (wash and cleaned up!) We were told by the hair stylist that she has seen dolls come in with far worse hair. So Molly felt better.
We were heading out to dinner so checked that Molly could stay for a sleep-over. That is where she is now – having her first American Girl sleep-over.
[A day later, another email arrives]
Molly is back with us and she looks beautiful. She even got bows, a hair clip and stick-on nail decorations. I thought we should celebrate so also got her a set of PJs and housecoat. She is now well-set in the wardrobe department.
Love you, Mom
More importantly…why does a 20 year old have an American Girl Doll.
October 21, 2009 at 12:45 pm
aww- this was adorable. i too have a very neglected american girl doll that i had from when i was 9- if your mother would liek another pseudo grandchild let me know! her hair is also a mess.
October 21, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Wow, that is so sad. Go out and get pregnant now! Do it for mom!
October 21, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Emily, why should the 20 year old have thrown out her doll? I am sure it’s from her childhood.
October 21, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Because they are collectibles to be saved for when you have daughters of your own. She didn’t say her sister was stilly playing with it.
October 21, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I have collected three American Girl dolls from the ages of 10-12 or so. I’m nearly 20 now and I still have them. I occasionally take them out to brush their hair, change outfits and such. Yes, I’m saving them for when I have kids…
…and also because they’re so darn adorable!
October 21, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Good Grief, get a life
October 21, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Unless this is a very long joke…it’s scary. Saving them for grandkids is one thing, buying them clothes and paying to get their hair done is quite another.
October 21, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Seems pretty tongue-in-cheek to me– props to Mom for not taking adulthood too seriously!
October 21, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I love it!!! My mom always makes mefeel guilty about leaving my American Girl dolls sitting in their trucks all year and not bringing them out and changing their clothes etc. when I come home from college :)
October 21, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Pathetic that someone would spend all that time, effort, and money on a DOLL.
October 21, 2009 at 9:43 pm
what the fuck is an american girl doll? sorry, in canada, we have LIVES and spend money to clothe and pamper ourselves.
October 21, 2009 at 10:12 pm
get a life. If you don’t like it don’t read it. an in America we treasure childhood.
February 25, 2010 at 11:58 am
LiLi and Christie – don’t be such bitches about it; show some respect like you would want the OP to do for your mother.
I think it is sweet but also a little sad – if you don’t plan on kids any time soon as least buy her a small dog. I hear pugs are perfect.
It was clearly a half joke intended to be cute for her daughter.
October 22, 2009 at 12:42 am
I Love it! I get it!
I was in high school when American girls hit the doll market – but I discovered the books while training for teaching in college and I fell in the love with the bigger concept of fostering strong, literate girls with instantly.
My goddaughter, Hillary, had Molly (and the books) and really, really loved her.
Hillary’s mom still has Molly … and I would hope that she would continue to keep her as a positive reminder of Hill’s childhood. Moreover, I would applaud her for getting the hair corrected. Of course it’s over board to buy the doll night clothes – but why not? Who cares?
AG is a brilliantly marketed & I don’t find this story sad. A woman with grown children indulged her emotions for a bit and had a great experience tending to a toy that had been important to her & her daughter.
Let’s stop sucking the joy out of people’s lives …..
Samantha & Felicity have been/are retired. Molly may be next & an original Molly will be worth an awful lot to any upcoming grandchildren who had a grandmother smart enough and caring enough to keep a piece of their mom’s childhood playtime history well groomed.
Cut her a break people –
Wish my mom & dad had kept better care of my Barbies so my daughter could have them now – instead they were simply thrown away one day when I was in HS. Big Mistake I realize now that I am a Mom.
October 22, 2009 at 7:26 am
WOW. I wanted a Samantha so badly. My grandma got me Kirsten. I wasn’t bratty enough to be ungrateful and I loved Kirsten, but a tiny 9 year old me is feeling a little sad at the thought that I’ll never have a Samantha ;9
April 18, 2010 at 12:12 pm
typing with kids on your lap equals lots of typos in above message! Really – I know better :)
October 22, 2009 at 7:28 am
I only have a vague idea what an AG doll is, I’m from Australia, but I’d like to say that I’m 45 and I *still* have the dolls from my childhood, I have a Chrissy doll (the one that the hair winds in and out) a Thumbelina (with the pull string still working) and a walker doll. I keep them because a) my Mum gave them to me b) I have many happy memories tied up in them and c) it freaks out my youngest daughter, because she does NOT like dolls, of any kind.
What more could you ask of a keepsake?
October 22, 2009 at 8:25 am
Oh, good grief
October 22, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Denise….I think we were separated at birth. LOL
October 22, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Samantha and Felicity are being retired!!!! What are they thinking over at AG? My daughter had most of the dolls–even one that looked like her supposedly–and I have been waiting to play with them. As soon as I go on reduced workload prior to retirement, I’m opening up a tea shop/bookstore and all the dolls will be dressed and on display.
October 22, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Kat: *grin* I did play a very evil trick on my daughter one year, the chrissy doll mysteriously kept on appearing in her room in odd places, in drawers, under beds, in wardrobes.
She knew *I* was the one doing it, but it still freaked her out 8-)
ahh, Motherly love -)
October 23, 2009 at 8:16 am
This mum had a good time getting a collectible restored, indulging her inner child and wallowing in nostalgia for a bit. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
October 23, 2009 at 10:01 am
I’ve been meaning to do this for my Molly!
October 23, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Aww I think this is cute.
Last Christmas my sister took my (22 yr old) niece’s baby Cabbage Patch doll (Baby Quimby) to a doll nurse and she she cleaned her up and sewed her up and did some repairs. (She told my sister that she could tell she’d been “well and deeply loved”)
I don’t think my niece had even seen the doll in well over 10-15 yrs, and when she unwrapped it, she started crying! It was so sweet.
October 23, 2009 at 4:10 pm
My daughter was introduced to American Girl Dolls when she was 5 yrs old by her aunt (40+) who not only has her own dolls, but also makes clothes for them. They are a wonderful part of my daughter’s life and the books teach young girls about character and responsibility. I hope they continue to be an important part of her life as she gets older.
October 23, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Those dolls start at $95.00
That’s not a typo. NINETY-FIVE DOLLARS.
My daughter earned one with a year of good grades, and I would skin her ass if she mistreated it.
October 29, 2009 at 10:40 pm
This comment could be a postcard from yo momma in and of itself. I’m laughing out loud here and my kids are going to wake up. Skin her ungrateful ass, Natalie! LOL!
April 18, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Come on….there are worse things. Let’s be realistic and say that it is cute. I know my mom kept all my dolls and at times I thought she was crazy but quite honestly, now, as a mother, I get it….It is there way of holding on to wonderful memories. Let us appreciate having little girls who still appreciate dolls and have not yet outgrown them….In a few years, they too will be in to other things and too cool for the little girl dolls that once brought a smile to their face. Sincerely, mom who is still a kid at heart.
November 23, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Lemon, you’re a pathetic bitch. Someone had to say it. Don’t get so ass hurt over cute things that don’t affect you directly.
December 18, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Biiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaccccccccctthhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss I love american girl. They teach kids about history and just having fun!
February 9, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I am 20 and I currently have 35 dolls and I constantly add more to my collection. I wasn’t a child that played with dolls, so I am sort of catching up; and who has the right to judge me or any other person who has them? I am part of an online club where even women who are in their 70’s collect them and make clothes for them. And so what? They enjoy doing it and who gives a hoot what anyone else thinks?!
February 27, 2010 at 11:20 am
I love this, and don’t think it’s crazy at all! I’ll be the one taking my daughter’s sweet Felicity out to get fixed up when my daughter’s off to school I’m sure of it. My daughter is 7 right now and has read every Felicity book available. She has now moved on to life in the 1800’s with Kirstin, although Felicity is the only doll she needs. I often think about getting Felicity’s friend Elizabeth so that my daughter and I can each have a friend and “tea lessons” can be shared. This is something I share with my daughter. This special time in our lives will not last forever, and if pulling out Felicity when my daughter is all grown up, to give my daughter a little reminder of that special time when she was 7 is wrong, then I’ll just be wrong!
April 17, 2010 at 12:27 pm
O come on people leave the girl alone.So she wanted to spend the day with her mom.Sounds like they had a good time.People collect all kinds of things maybe this person collects dolls.My sister’s husbands grandmother collected dolls and she was 84 years old when she died and had a hole house full.She loved to display them and even get them out and fix there hair.Dolls are very therapeutic.Doesn’t seam they were harming anyone by having a fun mother/daughter day out getting the doll a Pampering.Better then seen a lot of mothers/daughters doing together .
April 20, 2010 at 8:19 pm