I have been a Barbie collector since high school. Because of this, I always knew that "one day" I'd have a "Barbie room" in my home. When we bought our house, it was the first room we put together. I have such an awesome husband who helped make this happen for me. I designed it with space to display my collection and space for kids to play. We didn't have kids at the time, I was just thinking of my nieces and friends' kids or my future kids; whomever, really.
The room is in the basement, so occasionally throughout my son's toddlerhood he has wandered in there when I've been doing laundry. He never stayed long, seemed a bit curious, but always moved on relatively quickly.
But, last week, he went in and stayed. He asked me to come sit with him. He said he wanted to "play toys." I told him that these are called "Barbies" and sat with him to see what he would do.
What unfolded was amazing to me. It was almost as if I could literally hear the gears and cranks turning in his head as he learned new thing after new thing. I watched his imagination unfold in ways I had never seen before. He was practicing skills we had only touched on in other avenues of play and demonstrated knowledge I didn't know he had. I've always been a firm believer that children learn best through play, but it was never so clearly exemplified before my very eyes as when I watched (and joined in!) him playing Barbies.
I saw him using fine motor skills I'd never witnessed him use before. His favorite thing was to make "lunch" and put the tiny food out on the table. He LOVES to find matches of shoes and put them on and take them off their feet over and over again. He was identifying colors and the difference in size between the "Daddy's shoes" and "her shoes" (for any female shoes). He dug through bins trying to find matches. He named their body parts (eyes, ears, hands, and yes, even "milmies" and "potty"). He made them walk their dog, take a drink, and eat ice cream.
He made them talk to each other, brushed their hair, tried putting clothes on the little hangers. He counted objects, described shapes and textures with his words as he touched with his hands.
In every day life, he's been into identifying "girls" and "boys." He enjoyed doing that with the Barbies as well. I have a bin of accessories and various junk that has come with Barbies through the decades and he enjoyed rooting through that to find many miniature treasures. He found small toy animals, dishes, food and drink, and many things that he interpreted as different than what they were. Hair rubber-bands became "necks" (necklaces), flowery hats went on the "Daddy," and various other things I never would have thought of, limited by my adult mind.
Watching his imagination at work was a sight to behold. He learned and grew and I could practically hear the synapses in his brain firing left and right as we hung out down there for over an hour.
We only stopped because my back was hurting from sitting on the floor and he really wanted me with him. We spent quality time together, enjoyed each other's company, and got creative.
When I told my husband we played Barbies, he chuckled. I asked him if he was okay with it. He asked me, "Am I supposed to be not okay with it?" I responded saying, "No, I'm totally okay with it, I just think that it's possible that many dads would not be okay with it." He said he didn't care.
It's true that many people don't even want their daughters playing Barbies, much less their sons. I know that people fear girls getting body image issues or worrying about the provocative ways the Barbies are dressed. I do understand these fears, but personally, Barbies were an integral part of my childhood. I played up until my early teen years with my sister and friends and could spend hours a day in what we called "Barbie-land" in our attic that was transformed into two Barbie mansions. We didn't have Barbie houses or furniture or many accessories, we made it all out of household objects we could find. I never once thought to myself, "Why don't I look like Barbie?" or any of that stuff. I just wanted to play.
I never anticipated my son wanting to play Barbies. When I found out I was having a boy when pregnant with him, people would ask me, "But what about Barbies!? Who's going to play with you!?" I wasn't concerned about that, I was fine having my collection to myself. But now that my son IS interesting in playing with Barbies, and considering the immense benefits I've already seen from the few times we've played, I am perfectly okay with it.
The room is in the basement, so occasionally throughout my son's toddlerhood he has wandered in there when I've been doing laundry. He never stayed long, seemed a bit curious, but always moved on relatively quickly.
But, last week, he went in and stayed. He asked me to come sit with him. He said he wanted to "play toys." I told him that these are called "Barbies" and sat with him to see what he would do.
What unfolded was amazing to me. It was almost as if I could literally hear the gears and cranks turning in his head as he learned new thing after new thing. I watched his imagination unfold in ways I had never seen before. He was practicing skills we had only touched on in other avenues of play and demonstrated knowledge I didn't know he had. I've always been a firm believer that children learn best through play, but it was never so clearly exemplified before my very eyes as when I watched (and joined in!) him playing Barbies. I saw him using fine motor skills I'd never witnessed him use before. His favorite thing was to make "lunch" and put the tiny food out on the table. He LOVES to find matches of shoes and put them on and take them off their feet over and over again. He was identifying colors and the difference in size between the "Daddy's shoes" and "her shoes" (for any female shoes). He dug through bins trying to find matches. He named their body parts (eyes, ears, hands, and yes, even "milmies" and "potty"). He made them walk their dog, take a drink, and eat ice cream.
He made them talk to each other, brushed their hair, tried putting clothes on the little hangers. He counted objects, described shapes and textures with his words as he touched with his hands.
In every day life, he's been into identifying "girls" and "boys." He enjoyed doing that with the Barbies as well. I have a bin of accessories and various junk that has come with Barbies through the decades and he enjoyed rooting through that to find many miniature treasures. He found small toy animals, dishes, food and drink, and many things that he interpreted as different than what they were. Hair rubber-bands became "necks" (necklaces), flowery hats went on the "Daddy," and various other things I never would have thought of, limited by my adult mind.
Watching his imagination at work was a sight to behold. He learned and grew and I could practically hear the synapses in his brain firing left and right as we hung out down there for over an hour.
We only stopped because my back was hurting from sitting on the floor and he really wanted me with him. We spent quality time together, enjoyed each other's company, and got creative.
When I told my husband we played Barbies, he chuckled. I asked him if he was okay with it. He asked me, "Am I supposed to be not okay with it?" I responded saying, "No, I'm totally okay with it, I just think that it's possible that many dads would not be okay with it." He said he didn't care.
It's true that many people don't even want their daughters playing Barbies, much less their sons. I know that people fear girls getting body image issues or worrying about the provocative ways the Barbies are dressed. I do understand these fears, but personally, Barbies were an integral part of my childhood. I played up until my early teen years with my sister and friends and could spend hours a day in what we called "Barbie-land" in our attic that was transformed into two Barbie mansions. We didn't have Barbie houses or furniture or many accessories, we made it all out of household objects we could find. I never once thought to myself, "Why don't I look like Barbie?" or any of that stuff. I just wanted to play.
I never anticipated my son wanting to play Barbies. When I found out I was having a boy when pregnant with him, people would ask me, "But what about Barbies!? Who's going to play with you!?" I wasn't concerned about that, I was fine having my collection to myself. But now that my son IS interesting in playing with Barbies, and considering the immense benefits I've already seen from the few times we've played, I am perfectly okay with it.
Your room is a bit cray for me, but that's great that your son is making use of them. I assume you have any expensive/collector ones up top and out of reach?
ReplyDeleteMy son is 2 and his dollhouse (just a plastic thing I picked up at the secondhand shop for now) is one of his most favorite toys. My mother also gave him a toy mini-van and he spends an enormous amount of time loading and unloading the toy people. I love watching the wheels turn and seeing what roles he gives to "mama," "baby," etc.