I feel a blog coming on.....
Those are the words I just heard in my head as I am debating our newest, whatever, on Facebook. Good Afternoon Everyone! I hope this finds you all well.
So, what was I debating on Facebook just now? American Girl Dolls. So, we have escaped the hype of those overpriced dolls for a long time but, eventually, we knew it would probably find us. Well, about a month before our oldest daughter turned 7 she started talking about how she wanted an American Girl doll. We didn't even know she knew about them but, apparently one of her friends has one and she liked it.
About 2 weeks ago my mother in law took our daughter as a birthday surprise, to the American Girl Store at the Mall of America to get her a doll and some clothes and whatever else there is there. I have never been in the store or really knew a lot about these dolls but, my mother in law was great and went to the store to do some 'research' and figure out how the whole deal went.
It was wonderful! My daughter had the time of her life! She got to pick out a doll, get a pet for the doll, get some clothes, a hairbrush, and whatever else. Then, her and Grandma and the doll got to have dinner at the Bistro there and her doll even got her own food and her own chair. It was quite cute hearing the story and seeing the photos. My mother in law had a great time and my daughter had a great time. My mother in law also dropped a small fortune on the entire event but, she was more than happy to do it.
So, we now have this very expensive doll with her very expensive accessories and pet. She doesn't really do anything and we only have one so, it is hard for my girls to play with her but, my 7 year old daughter loves her and that is all that matters I guess. That is until today.
My husband sends me a text that says, "Gwen Charlie's American Girl doll is the first homeless doll ever!.....f***ing a"
So I call him back and I ask him what he is talking about. Turns out our local paper had an article in the paper about how this American Girl doll is the very first doll EVER to be homeless. Ok. What?! I thought American Girl dolls were to let our daughter's sort of live a fantasy of living in Colonial times, Revolution times, the 70's, and current. I thought they had positive messages for our daughter's and were sort of sold as a 'doll they could look up to' type deal. Yes, I know they are fiction but, I thought they were sold as more of a positive message and truly about living the American Dream type thing. You know, the normal BS that goes with marketing super expensive toys.
I had no clue that a doll that has a father that left the mother, a mother who lost her job and lost their home and now lives in a car was considered the "American Dream". Truly, I don't know much about these dolls but, that is NOT a message I want to send to my daughter that 'hey, you too can pretend to be homeless and living in your car if you just fork over $100 + to imagine it with this doll'.
First and foremost, let me all tell you, only by the Grace of God and our families were we not homeless at one point in our marriage and because of that we have been drawn to working with, feeding, and plain loving on homeless families and families and children in financial hardships. It truly is where we feel led by God. But, that is OUR choice, it is our decision and we choose to teach that to our children hands on NOT through a very expensive doll that frankly I feel we can barely afford let alone any family or child that might actually find comfort in having one that is 'just like them'!
I don't think my daughter needs to learn from a doll the life lessons of homelessness and a father abandoning his family and his responsibilities.
Is there an American Girl doll that has a father that loves his wife and his children unconditionally, that works his butt off to provide for his family and the mom stays at home to raise the children? If you read that last statement and say to yourself, 'but that isn't real life' well, shouldn't it be and truly, shouldn't that be something to aspire to pretend instead of living in a car? My children can't possibly relate to that even though they eat, play, and pray with many homeless children through out the year, they still don't get it. They just like the children and like to play with them and know they just need some friends and a little bit of help. At ages 8, 7, 5, and 16 months...I think that is all they need to know right now. They just know that we make food for some families and hang out with them and guide them a bit, they have no concept nor should they quite yet about this. Besides, it is Steve and MY job to educate our children on homelessness in a way WE feel is best for our family. I don't need some HUGE mega toy company to tell my children about it.
Now...if American Girl is giving proceeds of their Gwen doll to charities that help homeless children and families, that is quite another story however, I have been unable to find any information saying they are doing that. So, they are trying to teach MY child a lesson but, not themselves.
You know what, I am sick of being so politically correct it makes me sick! I am sick of public schools so worried about the 'little' kids or whatever so, they have to protect everyone and treat them all the same, I am sick of children not being able to be children I am sick of my children being taught it is OK to be different as long as we are all the same. Yes that is the message here people. As long as everyone is treated the same, it is OK HOWEVER, embrace your differences. What?! It truly makes no sense.
I have a lot of very liberal friends and I too used to be a very liberal, bleeding heart. I know that all of you just want things to be equal but, that isn't how it works. It will never be equal. In order for everything to be equal are YOU willing to give up things? Are you willing to give up your big house, your nice new car, your fancy clothes, your bonuses at work, are you willing to give more to others out of your own pocket and your own time to make someone else's life more equal to yours? Truly, that is what it will take to make everything equal and truly, most of you reading this blog live in nicer homes, drive nicer cars, and have bigger diamonds than my family and I feel like we are extremely blessed. Are you willing to give up those things to live in a $200,000 or less house, drive used cars, and live among the true 'American Dream'? Are you willing to move from your cozy home in a safe neighborhood and live in inner city Minneapolis (or where ever you live) and live among your 'peers'? Are you willing to sacrifice quality education, good schools, and a safe community so that things can be more 'equal'?
Truly, how many of us could really dig the ditches, walk in the trenches and live among the very ones we feel like deserve more?
I get this world is horribly unfair, however, I don't think it will get better by selling my daughter a $100 doll that is supposed to 'teach' her about the 'real America'. I can't wait to see if American Girl doll comes out with a doll that has drug user parents, or how about the dad that beats the mom and the children, or I know, can't wait to buy my daughter the doll that gets involved in sex trafficking overseas. YES, that is the doll for my family for sure! Oh the life lessons I could teach my daughters:-)
So, yes, I am a bit miffed at American Girl and Mattel about this as you can tell. I don't know if we will get her a different doll (someone she can look up to) or if we just won't tell her about this one's 'secret life'. But for $100 or more, I feel like I should be able to trust a company that my daughter is getting something fun, enjoyable and frankly, a little bit un-American.
Here is the link to the article that started it all:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/62405777.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Blessings to you all and as always, I welcome any and all feedback :-)
Here is a link to a CNN discussion about it. I think American Girl and Mattel only giving $120,000 since 2006 is a joke! These dolls cost $95 a pop.
<script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/us/2009/10/05/nr.baldwin.homeless.doll.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a></noscript>
-Liza