Sails or Sales

Dear Em,
Remember last week when I wrote about the plaguelike sicknesses that have filled our house? I was exhausted but happy that we were all on the road to recovery. Little did I know, my exhaustion hadn't even started. Daddy & I woke up to the sound of your cries again that night. You had thrown up again. At that point I was convinced your stomach bug was never going away & I would be forced to do four loads of laundry everyday for the rest of my life.

So, it was back into bed for you, my bed to be exact. Daddy got kicked out into the guest room again. Your next few days were filled with more TV, a lot of movies, the Frozen soundtrack, American Girl dolls, & barbies. There was a lot of Barbies. I quickly learned that playing Barbies with you means that you will dictate the clothing choices & activities of a large group of Barbies & I was mostly there to help you change their clothes. Shortly after I finally finished dressing the Barbies in the options you chose, it was time for the next activity-which really meant it was time for me to dress them all in new outfits. Sigh.

In your Barbie World, it is essential to be wearing exactly the right outfit for each occasion. Even when sleeping.

There are a lot of balls, fancy gowns, & dancing.

When the Barbies get bored of all the ballroom dancing, they decide they need a change of scenery & travel to North Carolina. They never travel anywhere other than North Carolina, & they travel by car, carriage, & horse.

Everyone has great jobs.

Top Row (from left to right): Nonnie "the sailor," Emma the Sofia the First, & Grandma the ninja.

Bottom Row (from left to right): Miss Julie the astronaut, Savanna the princess, Mommy the "people doctor," Aunt Jayme the "puppy doctor" holding her baby & your cousin Trey (who is naked because we don't have any little boy clothes), & Aunt Jayme's puppy.

As tedious as it can sometimes be to spend hours & hours changing Barbie clothes, it made me smile to listen to your imagination at work. First you announced that your best friend Savanna lives with us in your Barbie World. When I asked about her family, you told me that we were her only family. You had kind of a weird look on your face that suggested that given the chance, you would deviously kidnap the real-life Savanna so that she could live with us forever. After much discussion, I finally convinced you to include Miss Julie, Savanna's mom, but you would only do so on the condition that Savanna still lived with us (perhaps we need to schedule sleepover soon?).

When it came time for everyone to take a break from ballroom dancing & go to work, I listed possible careers based on the Barbie clothing options you have. You wanted to dress Nonnie first. I told you we had outfits for doctors, vets, Mommy's, sales people (like me), astronauts, ninjas...it's a pretty long list. You have a lot of Barbie clothes. "I want Nonnie to be a sailor." A sailor? I looked around at the clothes spread all over the bed & explained to you that we don't have any sailor suits. "Yes, we do. I want her to sail boats like you, Mommy." 

So, we dressed Nonnie in a top, skirt, suit jacket, & she went sailing. I had to laugh to myself. Apparently you think my job involves SAILS instead of SALES. What an exciting work-life you must imagine I have. Maybe I could get used to your Barbie World.

I love you so,

Mommy