Right Under My Own Roof

I knew these dolls would be trouble when my daughter got them for Christmas. Troy and Gabriella, we have these things called rules in our house. What do you have to say for yourselves? And don't tell me, "It's not what it looks like," because I wasn't born yesterday.

Toys For The 21st Century

You can tell a lot about society by looking at modern toys. When I was a kid in the 1970s, finding a black fashion doll was, at best, a challenge. Most of my Barbies were white, but mom went to a lot of trouble to add some diversity to my toy box. Had I been Asian, I don't know what she would have done.

Thirty years later, my daughter has a rainbow coalition of Barbies that were easy to find. While browsing potential Christmas gifts online recently, I ran across interracial prom couple Zeke and Sharpay, characters from "High School Musical 3." The dolls are sold together, like their counterparts Troy and Gabriella. (Come to think of it, they're interracial, too. Gabriella is Hispanic and Troy is white.) It's still somewhat unusual to find this reflection of society in playthings, but I think it's neat that so many kids are growing up with a so-what attitude about it.

However, I do wonder when we'll see something like a Chad-and-Troy prom pack.

To Bratz, Or Not To Bratz?

My youngest kid is turning four next week, and most of her requests are pretty reasonable: some Polly Pockets claptrap, Moon Sand, a Princess Belle costume. But for the second year in a row, she's asking for a Bratz doll. And for the second year in a row, my knee-jerk answer was "No."

Not that Barbie is inspiring little girls to become astrophysicists, but Bratz dolls have a jailbait aura that has always creeped me out. However, a friend of mine told me that her daughter (who's a little older) owns some of the Bratz Kidz dolls, and you know what? They're kind of cute. The one pictured here, Sasha, is adorable with her little curly puff, and she appears to be fully clothed.

I asked C. last night why she liked Bratz, and she said, "Because they're beautiful and sparkly."

I get that. Little girls like spangled, slightly tacky playthings, and I was no different. I owned a disco-era Superstar Barbie with a red feather boa.

Sure, Sasha here looks like a MAC counter drag queen got ahold of her, but I think I could live with it. If C. gets it, it'll be a nice surprise. If she doesn't, it's not like she'll know I was considering it.

What do you think?