Friday, January 14, 2011

A Short Trip Down Memory Lane

Several days ago, my daughter discovered a box on the top shelf in my garage.  The non-descript, cardboard box had one lone word written in black Sharpie marker on the outside.

"Barbies"

Throughout her life, The Girl has had many dolls. Bratz, Polly Pocket, American Girl - she has had them all, but she never really got into Barbies. So imagine my surprise when she begged me to get the box down.

Because my daughter has a history of destroying things, I tried to avoid taking down my box of once treasured possessions. But after a week of badgering me, The Girl won. I pulled down the box.

Can you say TIME WARP!

She pulled the dolls out of the box, the barrage of questions began.

"Why do you have an Elvis doll?"

"What are the horses' names?"

"What is up with her hair?"

"What is this doll's name?"

"Whose clothes are these?"

I was amazed at how many of the questions I could actually answer!

"That's not Elvis, that's Derek. He's from Barbie and the Rockers."

"I don't recall naming the horses, but I had a Jeep and trailer for them."

"She's supposed to be a rock star. Rock stars had BIG hair when I was a kid."

"That's Tracy, she was married to Todd. And that is Miko, she's Polynesian, I think..."

"Haha, those belonged to Brooke Shields." (Yes, I have a Brooke Shields doll.)

As she was going through the dolls, I was Googling images of the different collections. It was amazing to see that I still had so many of the original outfits and accessories. While the dolls aren't in the greatest condition (As my daughter said, "Brooke Shields is gonna need some serious surgery."), they were well played with and loved. Even as I write this, my head is filled with memories of countless hours spent with my Barbie dolls. It warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.

Do you have toys that you saved to pass on to your kids? Have you ever unpacked a box from storage only to be brought down memory lane? What were your favorite toys from childhood?

19 comments:

Shell said...

How cool! I really don't have many old toys...though my mom did save some, but she is keeping them(???)

Rochelle@AFamilyofLooneys said...

I have some Barbie clothes and a Barbie house that I plan on giving to my daughter when she gets a little bit older.
My husband had all kinds of Transformers that he had from when he was little.

Renegades said...

I have stored at my mom's two teddy bears from my youth.

I was never to into Barbies. My daughter on the other hand has a huge house that an 8o year old man made and it's full of furniture and barbies.

The Swimmer said...

I had barbies too and those were kept along with a wooden closet my grandfather made stuffed with clothes for them. My daughter played with them when she was young and now they have been passed on to my great nieces. They have been well loved and a little ragged around the edges but provided hours of fun to three generations. (Good lord I feel old typing that!)

Holly said...

My three year old is now obsessed with Barbies! She is a hoot. I was the destructive one when I was little with my Barbies. (I was trying to give people a clue that I wasn't interested.) Boy, have a changed because Miss K is building such a collection for herself, and I love watching her interactive play.

My dad still has the books I read growing up. Back in November, I was able to thumb through them when I was home, and it was definitely a trip back in time! :)

Babes Mami said...

Awww...sweet moment! My mom has some of her and our old toyd but I don't have any!

jules said...

I don't have any of my old toys but I saved favorites of my kid's toys. Little by little we are pulling them out for my grandchildren. It's soooo fun.

Heather said...

Love this post. What a great memory to have shared with your daughter.
I don't have any toys that I have shared with my children, but I do have a stuffed animal that was handed down from my mom to me and now to my girls. He is a little ratty, but I prefer to call it well loved!

Ducky said...

We actually just pulled out a tote full of My LIttle Ponys while at my mom's this one day this week. Lil Duck LOVED playing with them and they were in as good condition now as when I had them as a child. How funny the timing of your post!

Katie Hurley, LCSW said...

That's a great story! I saved my Curious George (very loved/worn out!). When someone sent a new one to my 2 year old for a gift I gave my "special" George to my four year old daughter, to which she replied, "uh, Mommy? I think I will rather have that new one and give this old one to Liam. He won't mind." So much for nostalgia!!!!

www.practicalkatie.com

Mimi N said...

That's hysterical! You had a Brooke Shields doll? I'm keeping my daughters' Polly Pockets for when I have granddaughters...a long time from now.

~Mimi

Anonymous said...

Oh, thats so cute! I think I have one or two dolls somewhere in the garage. But I doubt my boys would be all that interested in them. lol

gayle said...

I have no idea what happened to all my toys! Probably given away when we moved. I have several Barbies, Ken, Midge, the Barbie car and dream house. I use to spend hours playing with them.

gayle said...

I don't have ...........I Had~

Unknown said...

I envy you for keeping so many.. I loved my Barbies - it would be a trip to see them again. I even had that rock star one :) How fun!

One with many names said...

Too funny! talk about a time warp for sure! :)

Adalita said...

Oh I have my Barbies still at my Mum's - I was thinking of this last night I have 90210 dolls, Dylan, kelly and Brenda. I have Peaches and Cream Barbie and Barbie and the rockers. Ken lost his head at some stage and most of my Barbies have no hair. I also had 2 yellow barbie busses. I had a Barbie Apartment and house that folded into a suitcase. I don't know how much has survived. I hope that I have girls to pass some of my toys onto.

The Nice One said...

I would love to find my Barbies...they were eaten in my parents attic. Maybe literally.

I enjoyed when the Decades Barbies came out, because I remembered having the 80s and 90s ones!!!

I did pass down my Breyer horses to the Boy, and I was really psyched!

MommyLisa said...

My parents cleaned their attic for a garage sale and my brother and I came and took a few of the old toys.

Boo Boo got to pick ONE Fisher Price set - I hoped she would pick the airport, but she took the castle. My neice got Sesame Street, but I think my brother picked it.
She also got a few handmade and really old Barbie clothes.

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