When I was a little girl my mother had a poem she'd say to me when I got into trouble:
There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid!
Of course she always said it so that I understood I was not horrid, but that I had not done something good. I know she loved me, and that was very, very good. But I also know that there was an impish side of me, that from time to time caused me to do something mischievous.
Take the Christmas of 1968 for example. Little Kiddles by Mattel were all the rage that year. My sister and I loved those dolls! They were not taller than a three inches and were modeled after storybook characters (like Little Bo Peep), public service people (like a fireman or nurse), and several characters who were purely from the imagination of the Mattel toymakers (boys and girls alike). Diana and I would do chores and save our allowance to buy them, but the process was slow going (thanks mostly to the Good Humor Man and Mr. Misty the two ice cream trucks that toured the neighborhood and enticed us to buy ice cream with our allowance instead!). That Christmas when we made up our wish list (just think! we asked for simple things back then!), Diana and I asked for Little Kiddles and some of their accessories. Mom took the lists and put them in her desk. And then the waiting began. September, October, November...by early December we were dying with curiosity. And we'd figured out where Mom hid some of our Christmas presents!
So, one day when Mom wasn't looking (my guess is she wasn't even home), we snuck into the laundry room and very carefully, without ripping a single piece of paper, unwrapped every single present we could find! There were kiddles galore!!! We were SOOOOOO excited! And then it hit us. We couldn't play with them until after Christmas!!
It was the most excruciating three weeks of my childhood.
And I never peaked at my Christmas presents again.
When I recently discovered this picture I was amazed by our lackluster looks in the above picture. Even the lack of wrapping paper was a bit surprising because I know we tore into those presents like they were the last ones we'd ever get! But I recognized what Christmas this was from that little castle. It was one of the accessories that went with the dolls (purchased separately of course!).
We still laugh about this one. And no, we thought we did such a fine job of pretending we were excited (well, actually we were excited we could finally play with them!) that we never fessed up on the pre-Christmas unwrapping fest we'd had that day when Mom was out. But I'm not sure that we were THAT good at putting everything back the way we'd found it. And knowing Mom, if she'd figured out we'd been snooping, she would have let us squirm until Christmas because we deserved it!
I just googled the little Kiddles dolls and the first two pictures I found were both ones I had. A baby in a pink crib and a set if lockets with the dolls in them
Nice photo and funny memory. It's funny that neither of you are smiling. I have never heard of Little Kiddies before. I remember I got a Donnie and Marie Osmond doll set once - right down to Donnie's purple socks. I like them far better than Barbie.
Oh, this takes me straight back to when I was about 6 (1970?). I got a doll and a small pram for Christmas and my mom made me the most adorable little red lace dress. Must see if I can find that photo. Thanks for triggering the memory Ann. Christmases were much simpler in those days ...
I'm sure we have all got a similar memory lurking somewhere in our childhood! As youngsters all we worries about at Christmas was what was under the Christmas tree!
@pandorasecho Thanks Dixie! I still have some of mine somewhere in a box up in my attic! @kerristephens Thank you Kerri! @prttblues Thanks Bev! I never had the Osmond dolls, but I did go to a taping of the Donny and Marie show! @dibzgreasley Thanks Debs! I'll be looking forward to seeing that! @susale Thank you Suse! @digitalrn Thanks Rick! @alia_801 Thanks Alia! I'm glad you enjoyed it. @sarasdadandmom Thank you Terry! I'm just glad the statute of limitations has run out on this one! @salza Thanks Sally! @kelsi87 Thanks Kelsi! It makes me laugh too!
@vesna0210 Thank you Vesna! We were allowed to put 10 things on our list, but we never got all of them- usually only about half. And we never asked for anything expensive. We were easy to please! @daisymiller Thank you Daisy!
September 24th, 2014
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@kerristephens Thank you Kerri!
@prttblues Thanks Bev! I never had the Osmond dolls, but I did go to a taping of the Donny and Marie show!
@dibzgreasley Thanks Debs! I'll be looking forward to seeing that!
@susale Thank you Suse!
@digitalrn Thanks Rick!
@alia_801 Thanks Alia! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
@sarasdadandmom Thank you Terry! I'm just glad the statute of limitations has run out on this one!
@salza Thanks Sally!
@kelsi87 Thanks Kelsi! It makes me laugh too!
@daisymiller Thank you Daisy!