Preserving your child’s baby dolls
When you called them to lace up their shoes and they brought along Jeje the jelly fish, Bahbah the lamb, Arfy the dog, or Banky the cotton blanket, it was because the dolly also existed in your child’s mind; it was the child’s best friend constant companion. Where it went the child went, or should that be the other way around? Now the day comes when you decide what happens to Jolly the dolly, if it even has been found?
You’re going through the toys, and they’re 15, and there it is, ..the dolly’s head, barely hangs from its neck by a thread, and you want to toss it right? But wait! ¦in this life, where memories mean so much, and keepsakes remind us of them (although it’s not necessarily always practical, as some people are in the habit of collecting too much), you decide to hang on to it. You think more of yourself perhaps, but your child agrees to save it from the trash, at least in private to avoid embarrassment, so you wonder what should happen to it. Here are some ideas:
The first choice is naturally to want to give it to your kid, although some parents may keep it themselves as a reminder of the loving, dependent stages they now certainly miss. So you decide to give it to your child, or at least stash it til the right time. (What is the difference? ..well it might save the dolly’s life, that’s all!). So,
what will they do with it exactly? They will put it on display, to forever remember, wont they? You think for them, you always do that, well when they are 15 anyway. So, like a classic old car, you want to keep it original, most of the dolly’s charm is its final look, it tells the story. You can’t put it in a glass case, but it also can’t be tossed around by another child who has no appreciation for its heritage. So the baby doll becomes a baby doll statue, and it goes with baby’s first pair of shoes, and pictures of baby. And so it is re-born, a reborn baby doll!
There are several ways to preserve baby doll. All damaged stitching should be repaired first. The clothing and fabric should be hand washed gently and wiped dry, then laid out to finish drying. Most of these dolls will last indefinitely, when placed on display in a properly ventilated room, at room temperature. For storage, place the doll in a box lined with an acid free tissue paper.
A baby doll is the testimony to the child’s first state, forever reminding us of the memories of their innocent and dependent love. A reminder of their first lasting friendship, one that we shared in, ..entertaining the idea of olly with them. As our children age, we remember, with dolly sitting on the shelf, the beginning of a much greater relationship.