Barbie Dreamhouse

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• August 5, 2023

I’m unsure when I stopped playing with Barbie’s and became much more of a tomboy exactly… but I did have and play Barbie’s with my older sister, Lisa. Mitch, our younger brother, joined us too— much to Lisa’s dismay who didn’t want our kid brother playing with us. Mitch was a boy through and through. He was into violence and destruction and animals that caused both of those things. So when we all played somewhat peacefully together, he would be his dinosaurs and we’d play “Barbie and Dinosaurs.” How exactly those playtime stories went is somewhat of mystery to me now.

A year ago or so, I was walking around my neighborhood and someone was throwing out a Barbie Dreamhouse (three stories!) that was in very good condition. My sister and I never had a Barbie Dreamhouse. We asked for one pretty frequently, but they were expensive so our wishes were denied. I later joked that my Dad didn’t want our dolls to have a cooler house than ours. I carried the Dreamhouse to my apartment and de-sanitized it, excited to give it to my niece, Charlotte, knowing she would love it.

As much as I adore my niece and love playing with her, Barbies is probably the thing I enjoy the least playing with her (Charlotte, if you ever read this when you are older, I’m sorry!). It is boring though. When she plays Barbie’s, the Barbie’s just “do” the most mundane things. They wake up. Have breakfast. Go to school or work. Sometimes one of them is sick and needs to go the doctor. They change outfits. Shower. And then go to sleep and do it all over again. I still play Barbie’s with her because she loves it so much, but I also try to sway her into a board game, card game or maybe even playing with the Encanto house which is a little better.

I did see the Barbie movie, and I enjoyed it though I think it neither deserves the hate nor praise it’s getting. Either way… it’s a movie. I will tell you what did resonate with though. America Ferrara’s character’s daughter is a teenager, and she is getting bummed out because her daughter is getting “too cool” for her, pulling away from her affection and not wanting to play games with her. And it is normal. And it is sad. She is growing up.

My Charlotte is the sweetest kid ever. She literally jumps up and down when I come over. She gives me big hugs and tells me she loves me constantly. When I sleep over, she cuddles right next to me. And if I move her in the night, I wake up with her right by my side again. She tells my sister that we play and hug all day and all night long (haha). And when I go home she gets sad and tells me she misses me. When I am home, I miss her something wicked. I love her, and my nephews, more than life.

There are times I literally cry at the thought of her getting older, and seeing me and just going, “oh hi Aunt Lori.” Granted, I know she’ll never love me less. But she will grow up. She won’t pine for my attention someday. She won’t brush my hair and tell me I look like a princess. She won’t want to play stupid games anymore. That part of the Barbie movie struck me deep. I even thought of when I became less affectionate towards my own Mom (though no less loving) and it made my heart hurt.

Charlotte is such a beautiful and sweet soul. I hope she never changes. She is funny, and some parts weird, but every bit wonderful. I hope she never doesn’t feel loved or special or beautiful inside and out. I hope I can always make her feel safe like I do when I “protect her in the dark from her nightmares.” I hope she knows that when she grows up, whatever house she lives in, big or small, pink or blue, it will be a Dreamhouse. Because she will live there. And she will fill it with so much love. And whoever lives with her knows that there will be nothing better than being loved by her. Because she is so much more than a Barbie. She is kind and hilarious and thoughtful and talented. She is a little shining light in this world, and I live to see her light shine brighter and brighter.