Playing with Dolls

I had pulled out my old My Friend Mandy doll last year, along with some of my Cabbage Patch dolls, that my mom had saved for me in her attic, after Aaron showed an interest in dolls at his friend Alara's house. He used to play with the dolls more, but has only been playing with Mandy about the same as he plays with his stuffed animals.

But yesterday, when Kim was here in the morning, they were putting Aaron's clothes on Puppy (an animal he sleeps with) while Aaron was getting dressed. That reminded me that I had a box of clothes for Mandy, many that my mom had sewn for her and her friends Jenny and Becky, who I also owned. They seemed more suited for Puppy's size, so I pulled out the box of clothes and My Friend Jenny who had still been in a box in the closet. Aaron was so pleased to have two girls to play with. Two of anything is better than one. Kim changed their clothes at his request and when she stood them up in his room, he went to stand in line with them.

He also enjoyed knocking them over and having Kim stand them back up. In the photo above, he has knocked down Jenny and seems to be contemplating Mandy's fate.

He carried them around with him all morning, even having them sit on the table with him during lunch. At least until he knocked them on the floor. He also had a habit of occasionally throwing them across the room. He tends to carry them around by their hair, a trait I expect he inherited from me. As you can see in the picture below, my doll had lost all her hair by the time I was three.

I would never have thought to go out and buy my son a doll, but given his interest in dolls and the fact I had some already, it seems quite normal for him to play with them. We use the dolls to help teach him social skills ("No, Aaron, we don't step on the baby.") and I know pretend play is good for kids in general. The funny thing is, he acts around the dolls the way he acts around little girls. He smiles a lot and sometimes acts flirtatious. We saw these Groovy Girls dolls on a rack in our Henry's grocery store and he giggled and wanted to play with one of them. He even kissed her. He doesn't kiss Mandy and Jenny, but I suspect he likes them just because he likes girls.

At one point before I had kids I remember thinking that if I had a girl, I wanted to get the dollhouse from my parents that I had as a kid. But once I had a boy and saw his interest in dollhouses at toy stores, it made sense to get my childhood dollhouse for him. I know some people who be horrified that I let my son play with dolls and dollhouses, but I don't believe any nonsense that it will somehow negatively impact his masculinity. If anything, I hope it will help prepare him to be the kind of husband that I and many of my friends seem to want - one who is an equal partner in household chores and parenting.