My Own Toy Story

Over the past few months, my sister and I have been furiously cleaning and purging mom’s house to get it ready to sell. Not only that, Nancy stayed with mom for more than a week to help get her packed up to move. What’s left in the house now is nothing short of a miracle. The house has gone from 41+ years of stuff down to boxes and suitcases, down to practically empty. Mom has parted with many things, sold a bunch of things at her own moving sale, and given away many more.

During the process, there were times of reflection. I have to say that one of the most thrilling things for me was finding some old toys. There were toys from my nephews and niece that mom was more than happy to pass along to my boys. But…there was one thing stashed away from my childhood, my old Barbie Townhouse.

I couldn’t believe we found it while cleaning out one of the storage areas under the basement steps. Believe it or not, most of the furniture and accessories were in tact. I did a little cleaning of them when I brought it all back home. Sadly none of the barbies themselves were part of what was uncovered, but enough of the stuff I used when playing with them was. It was great to be able to show it all to my older son, who upon looking at it, exclaimed, “I really like your old toys mom!”

Lovely orange dining set

Barbie's pink bed, pillow, chair and throw rug

Orange patio set with Avon perfume/lemonade decanter, tray and cups

I have fond memories of playing with all of that stuff, perhaps even imagining what my own home would be like one day. Arranging and rearranging furniture, making pretend food to serve, and putting outfits together. The one thing I don’t recall is filling up that barbie house with little babies or children, doing their laundry, cleaning, or reading to them. Although I don’t regret any of the time I spent playing for hours, I’m so glad that my little “Barbie townhouse” is filled with real boys, real toys and plenty of love.