Having a Very Barbie Christmas

Santa Claus has come and gone – depressing, isn’t it? He treated my daughter well: games, toys, clothes, books, you name it. I love to see her happy. I’d like to play some of the games she received with her, but I don’t always know the rules. It’s not that I can’t read the instructions or that I can’t figure it out without them, but the normal rules don’t apply to the way she plays. She makes up her own. I wish I could understand them all. The only constant is that they involve Barbie dolls. It doesn’t seem like a game unless it includes Barbie in some form or another.

Foosball

Take foosball as an example. In most cases, you spin the plastic players on their rods and try to kick the ball into one or the other of the goals. Not in our case. That wouldn’t make sense. We have to hold Barbie dolls, dip them into the spaces between the rods and nudge the foosball towards the goal. It’s also important to take turns so that everyone gets a chance to score. Should we call it Barb-ball?

All I know is, Barbie or not, I’m anxious to let a few Barb-balls fly down the playing field. If she wants to get in the way, let her take it on the shin. We’ll see just how tough she is.

Barbie Loves Sweetie Potamus

Hungry Hippo is another example. The way we play it’s not a game at all. It’s more of a scene than anything else, like Barbie’s dream house or her pop-up camper. In our living room, it’s become part of Barbie’s jungle. She ought to have a jungle, right? Every Barbie needs a few hippopotami lurking in her swamp.

(I may be overthinking it, but why do you have to press the button every time you want to release a ball? Why can’t you release them all at once? Sweetie Potamus and Bottomless Potamus are hungry. Feed them!)

Lego Hot Dog Stand

After days of coercion, we finally put the Lego Hot Dog Stand together. “It’s a Daddy-daughter Lego project,” I told her. “We have to do it together.” She begrudged me a few minutes at a time – in between playing with Barbie, of course.

As it came together, I had no idea a Lego hot dog stand would become a Barbie hot dog stand. I thought the tiny Lego figures would have their own little world. I didn’t know they’d have to serve this giant Barbie doll and her friends. There aren’t enough hot dogs to go around.

It doesn’t matter though. Barbie has to horn in on all the fun.

Breaking Rules

I didn’t realize we were going to have such a Barbie Christmas. She hadn’t played with Barbies much before, so it caught me off guard. I suppose I ought to go with the flow, not worry about the rules of the games as much. So my little girl likes to break a few rules? No big deal, right?

Here’s to breaking rules in 2017. Let’s all give it a try. It can’t be worse than 2016.