The Barbies of my youth. Or not.

Growing up, I wasn't allowed to own any Barbies.

Little Girl Emily thought that such a policy was absolute torture, especially when so many of my friends had so many amazing specimens. Like...

Her,

and them,

and her.

I missed out, right?!

But seriously. In hindsight, there was a definite wisdom in not allowing them into the home. The reasons my mother gave me seemed to always have something to do with how it would just mean a bunch of naked barbies all over the house. Preposterous... (or so I thought...).

...which brings us to today. 

I was at Walmart earlier, and, on a whim, decided to take a quick stroll down the girlie toy aisle in the hopes that I could find a cheap "Frozen" toy. Emma has been pretty obsessed with "Let it Go" lately. If she sees an image of any kind from the movie, she immediately begins to enthusiastically yell, "Wed't Doh!". Or she sings it. In any case, she's super into it.

I found this:

Jackpot.

I brought her (the doll) home and sneakily handed her (the doll) off to Darren so that he could present it to her (Emma) while I recorded her (Emma's) adorable reaction.

As expected, Emma was thoroughly delighted with her new "Wed't Doh!" and so happy to hold onto her for a good, long time. She waved little Elsa in our faces over and over again. She scolded me fiercely when she thought I had adjusted Elsa's arms to reach for the sky (Darren was actually the guilty party there, but did she see the truth? Noooo.)

Less than two hours after arriving home from the store I was in the kitchen while Emma played joyfully in the living room with her new treasure. Suddenly. Alarm.

"She's undressing her! She's wearing nothing but her cape!"

Come again?

I poke my head around the fridge and see Darren towering over an oblivious Emma, looking incredulous. She was busy walking a newly undressed Elsa along the floor as though it was a Victoria's Secret fashion show. I could swear I saw fan wind billowing through her cape. Thankfully, Barbie makers have improved the appearance of their nudy dolls. She wasn't actually nude, but appeared to be wearing a leotard under her skirt.

The point is, my two year old figured it out within two hours of receiving the doll. How did she even KNOW that undressing it was an option?

Mama may have been on to something with that Barbie rule.