I have kept my little girl away from Barbie dolls for as long as I could.

Trust me, I’ve made her play with gender-neutral toys for as long as possible and even wanted her to rough it out with her brothers when they wrestled and do neanderthal-like things like grunting and crashing into random things.

I made all three kids play with toy cars, balls, Lego Quadro, Lego Duplo, kitchen masak-masak and trike-rides, and I’ve wanted it to be this way for at least the first three years of their lives. I attempted my best not to introduce any gender specific toys, unless they asked for it and only if they asked for it after they turn three.

So Becks did get a doll when she turned two because she wanted a “baby”  and she was at that stage of wanting to comb everyone’s hair. And since I was still struggling with post-partum hair loss and constantly annoyed with the yanking and pulling and tugging of those very few precious strands left I decided to get her a Disney Mulan for her second birthday. She liked it for a total of 24 hours before she decided that her Puku bolster was a better choice for a “baby”. She’s been “mothering” those little bolsters ever since (I so need to write a post about those bolsters!), and Mulan has since been banished to a shelf known as Forgotten.

And that was that.

Until recently – and it was only just this year – she started going all feminine on me and began to develop a liking for all things pink (again!) and purple and all those Disney princessy stuff and happily-ever-after stories. I was hoping the tomboy phase would stay for a while more but alas. She was also dragging me to look at hairbands and clips, dolls and fairies and all things that spelled G-I-R-L whenever we headed out. Every time she squealed, my eyes would roll.

Vanity is not something I wish to be handling now, really.

It was also only recently that she asked me for a Barbie.

Well, I’m not sure if it’s because I introduced her to her (Miss Barbara, that is) earlier last year because I did share with the kids that I loved dolls as a girl (and I only started at 5) and then grew up appreciating dolls so much that I started collecting Designer and Collector’s Editions of Barbie Dolls.

I also showed them my collection and promised them that they would get one on their respective wedding days and that Becks would inherit my collection some day.

I suspect that my little girl couldn’t wait till her wedding day, and has decided that it’s more fun to be pestering Mama for one to admire now.

Anyway, I caved in and bought her her first ever Barbie last Saturday.

The reason is here in the next post, Part 2.