Do you remember when we were little girls and we used to play “house?” (well except for the few men that may read my blog, you probably were busy playing G.I. Joe or some crap…but us girls, we played ‘house.’)
Looking back now, I kinda wish I’d played something else more. Like what I’m not sure, but if I’d had ANY idea then that I’d be playing REAL HOUSE for many, many years, later in life, I probably woulda put down my pretend iron and ironing board (yeah, like I’ve touched a REAL one of those in a while. HA!) and picked up a jump rope or something. Okay, maybe not a jump rope because that was probably a little too strenuous for me, but still, you get my point right?
It’s not that I don’t like REAL HOUSE (although some days it would be nice to have to take a ‘personal’ day) it’s just that when I was a kid I could put the baby doll down and she would not cry, like EVER. And my mother cooked. Every. Night. For reals. And it was good. Not that my cooking isn’t good, but I didn’t have to do it back then.
AND! And, I only had one, sweet, non-crying child that ate when I wanted her to and slept all night in her baby bed and never spit up on her beautiful dress that she wore ALL. THE. TIME. And if I ignored her for a little while or didn’t take her somewhere with me, she was cool with it.
Yeah, and there was none of this toddler business when I played house as a kid. No tantrums or constant nose picking (okay, maybe I dug for gold every now and again myself, but certainly NOT my ‘baby’).
Oh and groceries were abundant and free. AND, I didn’t even have to leave the house to buy them. Sweet.
The house was ALWAYS clean too, although I do remember doing a little pretend ‘dusting’. But I could quit when I wanted to and go take a nap. Even sweeter. And I never had to do ANY laundry. It was all magically done and folded and put away. Pure bliss.
Also, my baby NEVER got sick or refused to eat something that I gave her and then proceeded to toss it across the room. She never even learned to crawl and get into things. Yeah, she was an awesome baby doll.
What I’m trying to get at here is, don’t you think that it’s kinda funny that we spent a ton of time ‘playing house’ as little girls only to be catapulted into the REAL thing in our adult life? (not all of us women, but many…)
And have you seen the toys out there now for little girls to play ‘house?’ It’s like they have the doll version of everything I’ve spent HUNDREDS of dollars on to keep my babies happy and secure. Strollers, swings, car seats, pack n’ plays, bassinets, and on and on.
When I got the mail the other day there was an American Girl doll catalog and because I do have a girl now I thought I’d flip through and have a little preview. That is until I almost choked on my piece of Halloween candy as I saw the dollar signs. Let’s just say I hope my girl doesn’t want to play ‘house’ with those dolls or this REAL house will end up in the POOR house. Get me?
And who knows, maybe girls don’t play ‘house’ these days as much as I did when I was kid. I wouldn’t really know since this is my first foray into girl stuff, “the next generation.” And being that she’s only a month old, obviously we have a ways to go until we know what her pretend play interests will eventually consist of. But I must ask, would I be a bad mother if I tried to steer her in a different direction? G.I. Joe perhaps?
Hey, he’s kinda cute…
I have often had the same thoughts on this subject myself.
I played house constantly as a girl…oh if we had only known.
I even had one of those “baby alive” dolls that you could feed and then it would “poop” in its diaper.
Wow! I begged my mom for that doll.
And now I have a baby (doll) that poops all the time.
Heh…the things we do! 🙂
I never played house when I was little. I was way too much of a tomboy for that. 😉
I played house, but I was never a girly girl. My girl? Plays house with rubber snakes and lizards. I SWEAR I didn’t steer her towards THAT!!! 🙂
Love this. It’s so true! Hand that sweet girl of yours a GI Joe as soon as possible! However, if she’s anything like mine, she’ll just use it to be the Daddy in her version of playing house. 🙂
One thing I don’t remember when I pretended to play house was paying bills. I miss the simple days of playing house for free!
Would you believe my nieces each have 15 of those American Girl dolls? 🙁
You can steer all you want, she’ll still do what she wants. I didn’t promote playing house to my girls, but they are all about it some days. And just FYI–Target makes a doll that is the exact same size as American Girl and looks the same. So, you can do that, or buy the “real” doll, but accessories and clothes at Target.
How right you are. When I played house, I always wanted to be the mommy because I thought mom meant boss. I didn’t realize how much else came with that job!
Emily much prefers to play with her brothers – there’s hope for your baby girl too. 🙂
I never owned a barbie…I played with my brother instead, puzzles, barbershop (he tried to cut my hair!) board games…
I did have a cabbage patch doll which is in mint condition to this day from lack of play!!
I say, give her all the options. Claire in a male dominated house and her mother instinct just came with out any encouragement from me. She love to play in the kitchen making ‘chicken pasta’ and push her babies in the stroller.
Ah yes, playing house. I remember it well.
It was so appealing then because you had total control…and all kids were imaginary 🙂
I was kind of a tomboy when I was young. I played with Gi Joes. Little did I know, I’d marry a soldier. Foreshadowing, perhaps?? Now I get to play with a real-life one. Heh.
What were we thinking?! Maybe it’s because our mom’s were at home with us? Looking back there is a million other things I should have been doing.
Iron? What’s that ? 😉
Hi Elaine
I didn’t play house so much, I spent the majority of my childhood playing “school”. In my classrooms when I was young, everyone did as they were told, there was no insolence.
When you are young everything is so perfect, no hiccups, just plain sailing. Oh how reality quickly sets in.
I swear, we are on the same wavelength! I was JUST thinking about this very same thing a few days ago. “Real” house isn’t quite as glamorous as the pretend variety, is it?
Well, this little comment section is small for my thoughts on the subject, LOL!
Call me a weird-o, but I didn’t play house very much. Maybe that;’s why I love it so much now!
Congrats on reaching that first decade! It feels like a milestone. This is a lovely tribute to your marriage. Thanks for sharing.
Um… I DID play G.I. Joe. I was always Scarlet.
But I grew up on a street full of little boys. We played baseball and ‘guns’ and G.I. Joe and (when I got my way) runaways. I never played house.
Maybe that’s why I’m no good at it now. 🙂
Great post!
I played with GI Joe more than dolls and barbie. HE-Man too! my mom encouraged me to be independent and was actually part of the feminist movement in the late eighties, lol. I wanted to be a marine (i’m 5’2) and the first female football player at Texas A&M, and an engineer. Well… I am now a wifey and mommy of 3 boys and a girl (the youngest). She loves transformers, k’nex, legos and bugs lizards and mud, but she definetly loves girl time, nail polish, playing mommy and dress up when her friends come over. i think it for sure depends on the girl. Her dad embraces both sides of her and I think that has alot to do with what she feels comfortable with in regards to her interests.