Monday, June 12, 2006

My Life Monday - Week 6


Hey everybody! Again I am sorry I haven't blogged for awhile. I have good intentions. It just seems like I have less time now that I am off school. I really will try to do better this week.

Week 6 - A favorite childhood toy

I have two favorites when I think back on my childhood. The first was this giant Raggedy Ann doll my mom made for me. She made one for both me and my sister. They were huge! Or at least they seemed huge to a child. They were about three feet tall with great red yarn hair. My mom even made dresses for them. The only differences between our dolls is one had a red dress and the other had a blue dress. We played with these for days on end. They were stitched with love and it showed. My mom still has at least one of the dolls at her house. I love watching the grandchildren play with our giant Raggedy Ann.

The second toy I think of is my Cabbage Patch doll. Remember when those first came out and were the rage? They flew off the store shelves! I remember my mom finding out a store was getting a new shipment in. She planned to be there when they were put out so she could get one because they sold so fast. I remember her calling and telling me about two dolls she had in her cart. One was blonde haired, blue eyed and the other was red head if I remember right. She told me to choose over the phone which one I wanted. Being a blonde myself, I only wanted the blonde one. And so she bought it and brought it home to me. And I remember being so disappointed because my doll was ugly! It had blue eyes and blonde hair all right, but she wasn't cute at all! Plus she had an ugly name!

After awhile, she grew on me, ugly name and all. And again, my mom whipped out her sewing skills. She made me, my doll, my sister, and my sister's doll matching outfits. Yes, I matched my doll (I'll have to dig up a picture of me in my 4H sewing outfit modeling with my matching doll). She made our dolls Halloween clown costumes. My mom made cheerleading outfits, pajama's, dresses, and so many other cute little outfits. We had the best dressed dolls on the block. Again, my mom kept these dolls and their little outfits and it gives me great pleasure to watch the grandchildren play with these as well.

I realize that what makes these two toys special is the love my mom poured into making an ordinary toy a little special. The effort that went into creating first a Raggedy Ann doll and then little outfits for our Cabbage Patch dolls brings tears to my eyes today. My mom must have spent hours sewing. And she did it because she loved us. I hope I can be half the mother she was and give my children similar memories.

Share with me your favorite toys growing up! Leave your link and a comment below.

For next week, since it is Father's Day on Sunday, we'll do a Spouse Spotlight next week. Tell us what makes your spouse great!

17 comments:

Diana Mancuso said...

Cabbage Patch rules!

Welcom back Rachelle!

I'm looking forward to next week's topic. Thanks!

Stacy said...

Mine was about Cabbage Patch Kids, too - in a weird sort of way!

Mall Worker said...

What a sweet story! You're mom must have had a blast making all of those doll clothes!

Anonymous said...

wow!! clothes and all!! My mom and gran would just buy us more cabbage patch dolls LOL. glad you are blogging I've been waiting all day to read yours :)

Katy said...

I can hardly manage to sew curtains (with those tricky straight lines and all), what a wonderful mother. Great post!

Unknown said...

I need to make time to learn how to sew. I just think it would be wonderful to be able to make things for my little ones.

1tiredmama said...

Cute stories. My mom used to sew all kinds of doll clothes for me too. That is a skill I wish I had.

beth said...

I was really disappointed in my Cabbage Patch's name too. I ended up liking Koosas a lot more (the Cabbage Patch animals), but how wonderful that she made your dolls so special for you. I so wish I could do something like that. I'll have to find some outlet other than sewing.
And I like next week's topic. After I posted my MLM last night before yours was up, Hubby saw your comment and went to link my post onto yours. Way to support my blog habit!

emlouisa said...

I LOVED Cabbage Patch Dolls! I had two and they were so cute!

Carrie said...

Rachelle, I am so glad you are back. Missed you tons. It has gotten busier for me since school has been out, too. Kind of crazy.

Your mom sounds like a sewing whiz just like my mother-in-law. I have a hard time sewing a straight line. I never got a Cabbage Patch doll, although I wanted one when they first came out but it was the Christmas that everyone went bananas over them and so they were scarce. I also love Raggedy Ann dolls. They are so much fun.

Hope you are having a fun summer.!:)

Gina said...

I loved those 2 things too! My sis and I had the huge Ragedy Ann & Andy dolls and I LOVED my cabbage patch doll!!!

Valarie said...

How sweet! We had homemade cabbage patch dolls, too. Needless to say, we got real ones the next year. ;)

Lana said...

my cabbage patch doll was named Felix Mort. Why do I remember that?

I joined your "my life monday" this week. Go look :)

Lynanne said...

Oh how I remember my cabbage patch doll! Mine was not real (my mom helped me sew it) but I loved it just the same. She got braces when I did and had a cheerleading outfit when I was on the swim team. Those were the days!

Kristen said...

That's so great! And yes, I remember the cabbage patch doll craze very well! My mom always made my dolls and I matching clothes, too. Wish I could do that for my girls, but alas, I do not know how to sew.

Unknown said...

That's neat that your mom could sew and make things that remain special to you today. I had a Cabbatch Patch Kid too, but it didn't mean anything to me. I had one because everyone else had one, but I don't remember playing with it much. It sat on my bed with my hundred other stuffed animals and dolls(that's probably an exaggeration, but my bed WAS covered!)

Jenn said...

Sew Perfect was my favorite next to my Easy Bake Oven. I think I ate my weight in baking dough the first week I had it.