My Mother Wants "Two or Three More"

The roles of mother and daughter have certainly reversed in some respects between my mother and me. Lord, was she ever so stern when I grew up. I used to wait until the very last minute to ask her permission to do something because there would always be a ton of questions involved regarding my desire to do this thing.  The jury would always be out for an extended period whether or not I would get to do it. Sometimes she would agree.  At other times, the answer was an emphatic no.  Of course I understand her reasoning now, but as a child, I never did because I wanted what I wanted and wished for her to be as lenient as most of my friends' mothers.

Last year I relented and took two of my dolls to my mother's house at her request, "Bring me two of your large dolls dressed for Christmas to use with my decorations." Instinctively, I said, "No," followed by a stern, "you can't have my dolls." A week or so later, of course, I agreed.

32-in Dreamy Walker and 24-in Waiting for Santa before going to Grandmother's on December 7, 2010

The dolls, at Grandmother's on December 7, 2010

Lee Middleton's Waiting for Santa (WFS) and Shindana's Dreamy Walker (DW) were the two dolls I allowed my mother to "borrow" last year. Waiting for Santa's original outfit was perfect to add to Mama's Christmas décor, but I had to redress Dreamy Walker. I did so using a red velvet coat dress that used to be my niece's. It fits DW perfectly. After the holidays, I didn't bother to bring the dolls home.  A few weeks post Valentine's Day, Mama asked me to bring the dolls spring fashions because she was tired of looking at them dressed for Christmas. (I didn't realize they were supposed to be there indefinitely, but I eventually redressed them in pastel colors for her.)

Before leaving home to go to her house on Thanksgiving this year, she called and asked me to bring Dreamy Walker and Waiting for Santa's Christmas dresses. I did, and redressed them as I watched whatever was on TV. As she sampled some of the food and desserts I brought her, she said, "I need two or three more dolls with chairs that I can sit there and there" (pointing to the areas in her living room where she desired the dolls to sit). After looking at her quizzically trying to determine if she was really serious, I said, "No. There's Amberlynn (pointing to a doll I gave her several years ago for Mother's Day that I redressed for Christmas before redressing DW and WFS). "Three is enough," I said.  "The next time you go to Dollar General you should purchase a child's chair and let Amberlynn sit in it," I suggested.

Thinking in my head (now which two, not three, dolls can I redress for Christmas that I don't mind parting with). She begged a little, "Oh, come on, Debbie. I need two or three more."  To allow time for this jury of one to deliberate, before I left, I said, "We'll see." 

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