Why we love American Girl...

Why do I like American Girl Dolls...

Wow- such a question. I get giddy with excitement just thinking of everything I want to say about these dolls! 

I should start by saying I am a 35 year old woman. A woman, who as a child, dreamed of having my own American Girl Doll. I had the catalogues and a select few friends who had them, back then they were not very common in my neighborhood. As my daughter reached about the age of 5 she discovered the catalogues. She studied them over and over. We would sit and talk about the pictures that covered the pages. The detail in each and every thing, the price not yet a concern of course, because we hadn't purchased anything. Four years later it is like a mini Christmas when the catalogue comes in the mail.

Her grandma bought her first doll for her the Christmas she was 5.

We ordered it through the beloved catalogue and receiving it was unparallel to any other gift.

She named her doll Wendy, after her favorite restaurant. Wendy has been so many places and loved beyond measure. After she got Wendy the catalogues meant even more. Finding her doll in the pages and set in the scenes that filled them.

Over the next few years we were so excited to get our very own American Girl Place only 2 hours away.

The first trip was with grandma and papa for a soon to be retired Molly and the next with her best friend, and Wendy of course, for lunch.

A third trip with her cousin and a fourth one planned for next week. 

There is nothing like the store. In my daughter's words it is the next best place to Disney World! Walking through the doors and seeing the catalogue come to life is such an experience. Being able to see each doll in "person" and each accessory and animal. Having personal shoppers, a cafe, a hair salon and more.

 As my daughter has grown and become an avid reader she has seen a whole new world of history open in the American Girl books and movies. She has spent countless hours imagining up so many amazing stories for her dolls to live out. 

She has learned about cultural differences and had history lessons she would never have known if it hadn't been for meeting these dolls and their stories. 

We have made crafts and used our imaginations to make everything for our dolls from coffee to movies.

They have become a part of our family. 

As a person who considers myself thrifty I admit there is a high cost to the dolls. But, the quality and durability of the dolls makes them well worth the money. We have bought the knockoff dolls and there really isn't any comparison.

If anything I consider them an investment for my daughter and whomever she decides to pass them on to when she grows up, my future granddaughters I hope! 

We have many at this point, 5 dolls and bitty twins. She plays with them and cares for them and knows their stories. 

The next one she buys she is saving for herself. She is learning even more to appreciate them because she has been saving for so long. 

To be quite honest these dolls just make me happy. They make my daughter happy.

They let me live a part of my childhood that I have always wanted and they have given my daughter and I something we both love to do together. 

She won't always be little and she won't always want me to play dolls with her. I will take these moment and soak them in for as long as I can.