Loyal readers (all 6 of you!) know that Sydney got an American Girl doll for her 5th birthday. What you don’t know, but should, is that my daughter has some sort of freakishly fabulous memory that nearly ruined the day she got her American Girl doll.
Let me explain.
Back in October, my husband and I decided to purchase the AG doll for Sydney’s birthday in December. My mom, who was visiting for Halloween, wanted to order some clothes for the doll. So she, Sydney, and I took some time surfing the web looking at all the AG clothes.
There are the true AG clothes from their website, where outfits run $24-$36. Then there are gobs of Etsy, ebay and other like-minded folks having fun making and selling hand-made AG doll clothes. And they’re cute! We seriously looked at a million sites and about a trillion outfits. Sydney wanted everything she saw. My mom and I made the executive decision that rather than buy her 1 or 2 *genuine* AG outfits, my mom would buy her 5 outfits from one of the independent, hand-made doll clothes makers out there. Think local, right? Made in the USA and all that jazz! 5 outfits rather than 1! Woo hoo!
WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.
Sydney joyously opened her AG doll on her birthday a couple weeks ago. She was so excited! Then she opened the 5 outfits my mom had sent as birthday presents. Here they are:
After Sydney pulled out the final outfit, she looked at me frowning and said, “You forgot the ice skating outfit!” Then she BURST. INTO. TEARS.
WHAAAAT? What ice skating outfit?
The black one. From the AG website. You know, one of the 42,387 outfits she had said that she wanted.
Sigh. Who wants to see their kid cry on their birthday? I hatched Crazy Mom Plan #1. “Santa will bring it!” I told her.
Uh, WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.
I checked the AG website. The black ice skating outfit was on backorder until January.
Next, my sister called from Nevada to wish Sydney a happy birthday. While on the phone with her aunt, I heard Sydney say, “They forgot the ice skating outfit.”
Really? We’re still bothered by this? Even though you got the doll + 5 outfits?!
I got on the phone with my sister. I hatched Crazy Mom Plan #2. “Doesn’t Lily (her daughter/my niece) have the ice skating outfit? Can you mail it to me for 3 weeks and then I’ll mail it back?” (Yes, I am insane.)
“I….can’t,” my sister told me in a stunned voice. “It’s her favorite outfit. She plays with it all the time. She’ll know it’s missing.”
CRAP!
Next my mom calls. Now technically the AG clothes were her present to Sydney. As I’m about to hand Sydney the phone, I hold my hand over the receiver and instruct Sydney NOT to say anything to grandma about the ice skating outfit because Grandma didn’t know and her feelings would be hurt.
Sydney takes the phone and (drumroll) says to her grandma right away, “YOU FORGOT THE ICE SKATING OUTFIT.”
Really? R-e-a-lllly?
So I get on the phone with grandma who is near tears and quietly muttering, “I didn’t know.” After MUCH soothing, I think I reassured grandma that she was NOT EVIL for purchasing 5 adorable outfits and not the black ice skating outfit. But maybe grandma cried a little bit that night. I don’t know.
Now all of this happened within the span of a half-hour. During the phone calls I’m on the computer googling “American Girl black ice skating outfit” which is where I saw it was backordered til January. And, no, I did not consider paying $60 for it from some money-making bastard on ebay. I’m insane, but not that insane.
Finally, I found some homemade ice skating outfits online that might suffice. I hatched my final plan, Crazy Mom Plan #3. My husband went to the basement with his cell phone and called Sydney. He pretended he was Santa and informed her that his elves could not make the black ice skating outfit. But hey, Santa’s elves COULD make this white outfit that Mommy will show you. How ’bout that?
She didn’t want white.
We went through it again, with Santa/Chad pouring on the charm.
She started to come around. Finally, she admitted she liked the white outfit and it was okay that she wouldn’t get the black outfit. I pretty much pushed her off my lap and ordered that white ice skating outfit immediately. Who knew when it, too, might be on backorder until January?
The elves have made the white outfit and Santa will deliver it this Christmas.
She better not open it and say, “YOU FORGOT THE BLACK ICE SKATING OUTFIT!”
And by the way, I just checked American Girl and yes, you guessed it, the FREAKING black ice skating outfit is available again, and not on backorder until January after all.
American Girl, you are a cruel, cruel mistress!!!!
OMG what a total saga, LMAO. Your poor mom…I am sure she understands! I think its even more funny that your sister said no, loL!!
Kids have amazing memories!! I totally feel your pain!
We are leading parallel lives (except my daughter didn’t get 5 adorable outfits, just the WRONG outfit from me). After I panicked and talked to an American Girl representative for at least 20 minutes on the phone trying to bribe her, I actually asked my BFF’s sister (who lives across the country in L.A.) to drive 45 minutes to the AG store there, buy the outfit, and ship it to me. AND SHE DID, bless her! I felt so happy…and then so ridiculous for going to those measures for Julie’s PJs (that matched my daughter’s PJs)
The Dose of Reality recently posted…CAPTCHA…I Wanna Punch Ya!
What is it about AG that makes us all so crazy?! 🙂 At least I’m not the only one, thanks for sharing!
That is CLASSIC! And yes, we are leading parallel lives in our AG zaniness!
This post made me chuckle. Oh American Girl…. Happy SITS day!
Aspgriswold recently posted…Cupcake or Pee Stick…
Gotta laugh and glad you did! Thanks for dropping by!
While I do not have an AG story, I can totally relate to the quest for very specific toys. It is so stressful! Hope she enjoyed her new outfits!
Yup, and it’s that time of year again so good luck to all of us! Thanks for the comment.
LOL too funny! You know what is going to happen…the black ice skating outfit will be on sale in a few weeks (after Christmas of course). Loved the American girl stuff. My daughter is 2 and I saved her doll and the outfits (that were expensive back then)! It is good for kids to realize that they won’t always get what they want. I never did get my Barbie jet plane that I wanted and never go, and I am still not completely over it. Loved your post!
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Thanks!! Just yesterday she sprung it on me that she’s wanting some Barbie cruise ship. Wish me luck! I told her good that I know now so Santa’s elves have time to build it.
Oh, American Girl Dolls. Such a ploy (though I had my own when I was younger, and my own drama surrounding that). Happy SITS day!
Bev recently posted…Friday Five: 5 Things I am Grateful for this Year
I think AG and the Disney people are totally in cahoots with their ploys!! Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the post. It is hard when they are focused on one thing. While reading a book to my daughter she pointed at an illustration and said that she had asked Santa for the pink bear. I peered at the picture. It looked a little orange. No, she insisted, pink like my little ponies. In our entire town I could not find one pink bear until at the very last minute I spotted a pink bear near the ceiling at Montgomery Wards. The salesman said he couldn’t reach it. Another worker saw my desperation and got a ladder. It has remained her favorite and at 36 she still has her pink bear. Have a Great SITS Day and enjoy your daughter.
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Awww. Sometimes they really DO know what they want! Sweet story.
I remember wanting an American Girl SOOO badly when I was young. I can’t believe how much more there is to choose from now! After reading your post I HAD to go look up this outfit. It is pretty darn cute. I’ll be thinking of you on Christmas morning!
Happy SITS Day!
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Thanks, Jennifer!
Cute story… I remember when my mom bought me American Girl dolls—not the same story, but rest assured your daughter won’t remember all the outfits you forgot: She’ll remember the fond memories she has playing with the doll, I swear!
Cute story. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy SITS Day!
Mollie
Mollie Busby recently posted…Actively pursuing the balance
Thanks, Mollie! She really loves her Bitty Baby and AG doll.
My 12 year old daughter got an American Girl doll last year for Christmas and she loves it. Wow, I didn’t know all the drama associated with it, but she does want a couple of outfits for this Christmas. I thought she was finished with dolls, but I’ll let her continue playing with them. Happy SITS Day!
Whitney recently posted…Going With The Flow
Happy SITS day! What a hilarious story – my sisters and I still have our original American Girl dolls so maybe your fuss will be worth it after all in about 20 years 🙂 and hopefully by then you can BOTH laugh about it!
Danielle recently posted…Foods from Chile
(I have totally related to all three of your SITS posts, so I think we should be friends!!)
My daughter has really wanted an American Girl doll, but I refused to pay that much money for a doll she will only play with for a year or two. Much to my joy, I found My Generation dolls at Target. Only about $20 for a doll with a cute outfit, a book and a back story. I asked her grandfather to buy it for her for her birthday. She unwrapped it at the party, took one look at it and said, “Mommy! When I get an American Girl doll, these two can be best friends!!” I almost died! Thankfully her grandfather wasn’t paying attention and didn’t hear her.
Rabia @ TheLiebers recently posted…Calming Caddy
“Mommy! When I get an American Girl doll, these two can be best friends!!” — CLASSIC!! I feel your pain.
P.S. While she has an American Girl Doll, we did get the Target bed, salon chair, etc. Thanks, Target!!
Rabia, bring on the friendship! Glad you can relate. 🙂
Oh, American Girl drama, it’s good to see that your legacy continues 🙂 Happy SITS Day!
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Thanks! 🙂
This is awesome. It seriously made me laugh. My girls both have bitty babies right now, but I can only imagine the drama that will happen once we get them the REAL AG dolls!!!!
Rachel @ Polka Dots and Lemonade recently posted…:Friday Fashion: Margaret Palmer Jewelry: The Cancer Pearls Collection + A Giveaway
Happy it made you laugh! Love to hear that. Good luck in the coming years…do you get the catalogs yet? They are incessant and addictive to girls!
With 2 little girls, 4&7, I too am at the mercy of AG! Happy SITS day 😉
Jean Lynd recently posted…Green Giant Seasoned Steamers Winner!
We’re all in this together, Jean. Thanks for coming by!
It’s like an uncanny kids’ superpower! Happy SITS Day, byt the way! I hope it was a great one!
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Happy SITS Day! I enjoyed your post.
Thanks so much!
I still feel guilty not getting the Barbie car my then 3 year old wanted for Christmas 17 years ago. We did not have $400 to buy a car she could ride in herself. Heck, we didn’t have $400 to buy a real car! She seems to have survived. But Mommy guilt never dies! Just over from Sits, btw!
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