Godfather
I took Dutch to a big neighborhood multiple-yard-sale event last weekend. Yard sales are great for the accumulation of cheap plastic junk (!), and I figured she'd enjoy it, and she loves our friends Emma Goldman and Brendan Behan, who met us there. At the third sale we visited, she found an cheap, plastic, ugly doll that came with a box of cheap, ugly clothes. She wanted it. It cost $5.* She had $7 to spend. I was concerned that she would buy the doll and then freak out later when she found other things she wanted more and couldn't afford them, so I made her leave the doll there. She then proceeded to show her strength of character by whining and complaining almost incessantly, asking after each sale we visited "NOW can we go back and get my doll?!" After about an hour, I began to realize that I had made a major mistake, and that I should have let her buy the doll. We finally went back to the scene of the crime, and of course the doll had been purchased by some other princess-in-training. Dutch freaked out. I considered sticking a price tag on her and leaving her on the curb. Then we went around the corner, and Emma, blessings be upon her, spotted something amazing at another sale - a plastic horse head that comes with a number of grooming accessories, like a fake curling iron, combs, barrettes, and some kind of disgusting gooey makeup. Dutch promptly purchased it and was utterly thrilled. She carried the bag herself, and kept reaching in to pet the horse. She played with it all afternoon, and at bedtime she put it next to her bed, and said "I want to be able to see my pony. It can see me. I am my pony. I am looking at myself!"**
I had to include a picture, because the thing is truly spectacular. I can't believe that someone somewhere thought "Hmm. You know what would really sell well? A plastic severed horse head with barrettes. I bet that'd be terrific!" and I really can't believe that that person was RIGHT.
*Many of the items at these sales were weirdly over-priced, based on my experience of yard sales in the past. Emma Goldman's theory was that these people are all so accustomed to paying lots of money for things (it's a pretty rich neighborhood) that it didn't occur to them that, for example, used children's clothes of no particular beauty or quality shouldn't be priced at $3 apiece.
** She takes identification to an extreme. When she sees a movie, or looks at a book, or is told a story, she picks a character that she is going to "be". She used to want to be Mary Ingalls, because she had BLOND HAIR, and then as soon as she reached the point in the series where Mary went blind, she switched her identification to Laura. Apparently it's better to be brunette than blind.
I had to include a picture, because the thing is truly spectacular. I can't believe that someone somewhere thought "Hmm. You know what would really sell well? A plastic severed horse head with barrettes. I bet that'd be terrific!" and I really can't believe that that person was RIGHT.
*Many of the items at these sales were weirdly over-priced, based on my experience of yard sales in the past. Emma Goldman's theory was that these people are all so accustomed to paying lots of money for things (it's a pretty rich neighborhood) that it didn't occur to them that, for example, used children's clothes of no particular beauty or quality shouldn't be priced at $3 apiece.
** She takes identification to an extreme. When she sees a movie, or looks at a book, or is told a story, she picks a character that she is going to "be". She used to want to be Mary Ingalls, because she had BLOND HAIR, and then as soon as she reached the point in the series where Mary went blind, she switched her identification to Laura. Apparently it's better to be brunette than blind.
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