a tale of two sisters

Once upon a time in a beautiful far away place called the West Coast, there lived a family with two little girls. The older one was named Lisa, and the younger they called Rachel (I swear, I just made up these names). Lisa loved to play with dolls, especially Barbie's. She would dress Barbie up, fix her hair, and send her out shopping with her friends, or occasionally on a date with Ken. And while she would braid Barbie's hair or put it in pretty ponytails, she never once cut it. She understood that it wouldn't grow back, and she was uncomfortable with making that sort of permanent change. But as Lisa grew older she started to outgrow her dolls, so her younger sister Rachel got to play with them. Rachel, to put it kindly, was a mutilator. Not only did she like to cut Barbie's hair, and rarely clothe her, she also applied "make-up" and "tattoo's" with pen that doesn't wash off! That saddened Lisa, but it was bearable. What happened next was not as easy for Lisa to forget. See this cute doll that looks like she swallowed a cassette player?

That's Cricket. Lisa adored her! She talked, and had pretty blond hair and blue eyes, just like Lisa. She even almost weighed as much as Lisa. Lisa would sit Cricket in her chair, with her legs together since she was wearing a skirt, and listen to her stories, even though she always told the same ones. Lisa always took very good care of Cricket... but then Rachel got her hands on her and I think we all know what happened. Cricket went from sweet, preppy, tennis playing Cricket, to short haired, tattooed, rock and roll loving Cricket. Lisa never fully recovered from it.

What spurred this memory and lament?

Today Alexis asks, while playing with her naked Barbie , "Mom, can I have my scissors to cut Barbie's pony tail?"

Sounds like we better hide the scissors next time Aunt Rachel comes over.


*if you want to learn more about the Cricket doll, or see more of her clothing options, visit here.
*Lisa loves her sister Rachel and means all of this in fun.