I went shopping alone tonight. *gasp* I know, can you believe it? My parents took Lydia, my niece and Charmin (their dog) out for a big Christmas-party-tree-lighting-surprise-grandparent-shindig. I don’t know what they did because they wouldn’t tell me but Lydia left wearing this…
(you like the cord in the wall? classy.)
She came home wearing this…
(you like the speaker in the middle of the floor? classy.)
I don’t know what happened during this grandparent outing, but it must have been pretty exciting. They wouldn’t tell me a thing. I guess I’ll have to wait until Christmas.
Now, where was I?
Oh yeah, shopping! Alone! I went to Marshall’s, TJMaxx, World Market, Joann’s and finally Toys R Us. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve been into Toys R Us since Lydia turned 1. I was hoping to find a cute doll and some doll accessories for her Christmas present. She’s almost 2 and loves to put her stuffed animals to sleep, pretend to cook and otherwise role-play.
Well.
I was not impressed. Everything in that store is just…plastic. And it’s all over-the-top. Look at the newest Disney Princess toy this year. I mean, really, is that necessary?
Every doll in there was either wearing a mid-drift, carrying a microphone, draped with plastic jewels or completely scary. I am just afraid of dolls like this:
And this one’s not so bad, but still enough with the plastic!
I really do like these at Pottery Barn Kids.
But sadly, they are no longer available. They do carry some cute “big girl” dolls…
which are $40. That’s without buying it any clothes or a bed or even a changing table!
I just want to buy Lydia something that’s a little sweeter than this:
Seriously, am I the only one that sees a problem here?
*shudder*
Any ideas? I want cloth, fabric, felt, yarn or even wood! Just no plastic!! Help me out internets! Point me in the right direction, please.
~speaking of gifts, I’m giving away some biiiig gifts this week…like vera, chocolate and etsy!
I did a little poking around for you. Here’s is one place I found:
http://bigstuffedanimals.stores.yahoo.net/trragdo.html
Hope that helps! I totally agee…toys these days are over the top! Bratz. Need I say more?
I know what you mean!! It is crazy! Have you looked at the Madam Alexander dolls??? They are not entirely cloth but some are mostly cloth. Very precious. Google dolls and you will find a plethora to choose from!
Hope you find the perfect one!
Ok… yeah, that stupid chair will really keep kids entertained? DUMB!
but people will buy it because girls want it, and girls want it because of DP. grrr…
We have one of those PB baby dolls. love her. (the baby ones) gen has outgrown her so she is in her box of childhood treasures. (good thing. She’d probably rip her head off now…)
I agree though. horrible toys… horrible.
Yay for shopping alone… Boo for those dolls! I am relieved in some ways that I’m having boys, so I don’t have to deal with inappropriate dolls! I still have to deal with plastics, though.
Take a look here http://www.coolmompicks.com/safertoy07/ and here http://educatedmom.wordpress.com/
, maybe there will be some good ideas? I haven’t looked at these too hard…
I have three girls, my oldest being 12, and I have always found it hard to find a really cute baby doll, one that is really worth buying. Some of those dolls, i just can’t believe people actually buy them, let alone thought to make them..that they thought they were cute enough to sell. The pottery barn dolls are cute, ive never seen them before..have you tried ebay or amazon? Good luck!
My daughter wanted Baby Alive… because the doll poops.
Um, yeah… NO!
But what I did get her was a chou chou doll… the mommy make me better one. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up and already had the little weigh station like the doctors have so I went with it..
however, my daughter is 8 and a doll that does nothing would sadly bore her.
I feel your pain… i really do. It’s so hard to buy for them anymore.
Oh my…the throne…and why do our kids think they are the center of the universe again???? I know what you mean. I am having a hard time finding nice things for my 7-year old! Your daughter is so cute! 🙂
go here she is a mom store and her dolls are so sweet and fun they are cloth homemade and my daughter unwrapped one of her Christmas present and it happened to be one of these dolls so now she keeps going back and trying to unwrap it as she loves her doll. http://sewingtheseamsoflove.com/ tell her I send you if you order anything.
Fo’ real, girl! I leave the doll shopping to the grandparents…I just gave up on it all when Abby was little. HA!
I can’t wait to find out why Lydia was so dressed up when you picked her up. 🙂
Why do I think you may have some surprise portraits coming your way??
My first inclination would be to check Etsy… but I’m guessing your way ahead of me there.
The American Girls aren’t bad (as far as I can tell) and I think they make a line that are BABY dolls. You may want to poke around Hearthsong’s website. Their toys pretty tame.
I bought wood puzzles for my friends kids and made them taggie blankets.
As for the doll I absolutely LOVE the bitty baby by American Girl. both my girls have them and they are adorable! If you want a cute doll that is inexpensive the little mommy dolls are cute! Sarah got one for ehr birthday and she really likes it. we got it at toys r us. I ahte the Bratz dolls/toys I refuse to buy my kids those things. It is easier to buy for Sam because she is older so she is getting a leapster. Sarah on the other hand is alot harder to buy for so she is jsut getting stuff for her dolls.
Two words. American Girl. 🙂
My mom made the girls a doll each and then made them matching dresses for occasions. Amanda’s mellissa doll was her very favorite, still is! No plastic!
So what did you pick? Did you find one you liked?
TJ Maxx and World Market. Two of my favorite stores EVER.
I found the best deals on bitty’s and 18″ @ american-giel-doll.net