Every Little Girl Needs a New Friend for Christmas

Every little girl should get a new doll for Christmas. I don't mean one of those ugly, awful, "ho-wanna- be" Bratz dolls, I mean a doll. Since I am the best grandmother in the world *cough* Princess Granddaughter (P-G) will be unwrapping Nellie this year.

Nellie's been in our house for quite awhile now. She's been sleeping in the closet since I bought her 2 years ago. RW and I usually have a "Christmas weekend" in Chicago the week after Thanksgiving and American Girl Place (AGP) is a stop every year. It's not only mecca for the thousands of little (and not so little) girls who visit to gaze wistfully at the displays, have tea and hopefully walk out carrying one of their signature red shopping bags, it's the highlight of my weekend, too. RW somehow manages to find a place to sit and patiently waits while I indulge my inner child.

Our first trip to AGP was ostensibly to buy something for a young family member but I managed to walk out with Molly. I've wanted her since MY daughters were small. She spends her days standing on my dresser, and at this time of year she's usually dressed up for the holidays, as you see here.

Now P-G can bring Nellie over and the four of us can have tea parties. Four years ago was my first Christmas as a grandmother. My daughter wanted me to have something that celebrated the event and bought me this:
It's the Camp Grandma tea set by designer Jessica Breedlove. It, too, has been packed away awaiting the day when P-G was old enough to enjoy it. It's been a really long time since I had a tea party with a little girl (or was a little girl, for that matter) but I remember how fun it was to eat cookies and drink pretend tea.

Somehow Christmas brings out those long-ago memories of childhood. I'm lucky that I can't remember a bad Christmas. I hope that when P-G is grown she feels the same way.