How Much Is That Dolly in the Window?

Isabelle spent the night with Mom-Mom SuSu last Saturday night so us crazy kids could go enjoy a nice restaurant and night at the beach. We had a yard sale earlier that day and made some mad cash so we decided to use it for fun money.

Iz had sold some of her toys (quite reluctantly). On Sunday, Mom-Mom planned on taking Iz to church and then to a huge flea market afterwards. So after the yard sale, we let Izzi have the $11 she made selling her toys and told her she could buy ANYTHING she wanted at the flea market on Sunday as long as it didn't breathe or make noise.

So at the flea market, they were walking around and Iz spotted a baby doll from across the room and their eyes locked and it was instant lifelong love. She had found exactly what she was going to spend those $11 hard-earned bucks on.

There was a man and woman manning this particular kiosk. Izzi picked up the doll, with stars in her eyes and told the man, "I want HER!". And she opened her purse and proudly handed over all $11. The guy apologized and explained that the doll came with 10 outfits and they were asking $40 for everything. So Mom-Mom jumped in and tried to haggle a little, can we get the doll only without the clothes for $11? No, sorry, the guy said his wife would kill him if he let it go for that little. So now Iz was pissed, and turned on the charm for Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, thinking for sure they would dig into their pockets and make up the difference. And Mom-Mom SURE did want to, but we had already chatted ahead of time and she knew that there was a teachable moment here. Izzi had $11 to spend, and you don't just ask for more money when you want something, you have to live within your means. Mom-Mom explained that maybe if she was a good girl, that she might get this doll for a special occasion like her upcoming Pre-K Graduation, or her big first day of Kindergarten, or birthday or something. Izzi was very sad but she didn't argue. She accepted her fate like a big girl and put the doll back on the shelf.

The woman was finishing up with another customer and came over to see what was going on with this little girl and her family. As soon as the woman asked what was going on, Isabelle lost her marbles and cried that she really wanted that doll but she only had $11 and HE wouldn't let her HAVE IT and she doesn't have any more money than that. Well, the waterworks did the trick, and the lady let Isabelle have the doll and 10 outfits for only $11.

So you think that would be the end of the story but it gets better because when they got home, Mom-Mom wanted to clean the gently-used doll up a bit and clean the clothes. She looked for a tag and found one. She got online to Google it to find out if there were special instructions or something. As it turns out, Isabelle just wrangled herself a new-to-her gently-used American Girl doll (which retail for over $100 without the outfits and accessories) for 11 bucks. Needless to say, I'm taking her with me every time I go to the flea market now.

Cindy

Izzi's new-to-her American Girl doll "Callie" hanging
out with 40-year-old armless wonder "Cindy"

And then there was Cindy, circa 1973. She has little hair left b/c I dragged her around by her hair wherever I went, as soon as I started to move. By the time enough hair fell out and I couldn't grasp on any longer, I proceeded to drag her around by her arm...which eventually fell off.

Isabelle has asked me repeated questions about her every detail. Why does she have no hair? What happened to her arm? Why didn't you sew it back on? Why is she so dirty? Where are her clothes? What is this hard round thing ripping through the fabric on her back? (It's the old sound box that made her crying noises).

Cindy doesn't cry anymore. But I still cry at night when I have nightmares that she's going to come into my room and murder me in my sleep. Cindy takes bookings for horror movie roles, please send me a private message.