Whose House Is It Anyway?

[MaryKate]

I think I've mentioned around here that I spent some time this summer refreshing and rehabbing a dollhouse my dad and I made for my sister when she was a little girl. It's been sitting in her daughter's room, where I could see the broken stairs, dusty floors, missing windows, and stained wallpaper every time I rocked the baby. 

This rehab was a big hit with her two kids, now 5 and 1. The 5yo kept saying, "Isn't it amazing? It's just amazing!" and happily moved all the Calico Critters furniture he could find into it (which is fine; I also made furniture for the house the first time around but it's in storage until I can rehab that and until they're both a little older). Then he realized his baby sister could pull herself up on the table and reach the first floor. Despite his mother and me telling him she could handle the bigger plastic pieces just fine, he migrated almost everything to the 2nd and 3rd floors (he even declared the living room, with its lace curtains, bay window, and fireplace to be the garage!). Whenever she would touch one of the few things he'd left on the 1st floor, he'd take it out of her hands and move it. "You realize it's actually my house, don't you?" my sister told him. "If your sister wants to play with it, she can."

He pretended not to hear. "Buddy, I hate to tell you this," I said, "but there's a storm coming. It's called Margaret's Revenge, and it will be epic." He thought that was pretty funny.

Yesterday I got this text from my sister: She has figured out that if she stands on the stool she can reach the second level and all the things Brother is keeping out of her reach. When Brother freaked out and tried to take the piano out of her hand, she smacked him on the head with said piano. Though she be little, she is fierce.

That's my girl. ;)

 

[havanaholly]

I shouldn't laugh, but oh, did that ever bring back memories!

[Mimajo]

I LOVE IT.  I HAVE 5 grandchildren.  Two sisters are 9 years apart and the newest one, 16 mo old has no siblings as yet.  So it's my oldest daughters two, a boy 9 and a girl 5 that have the best stories.  My brother was younger and my dols were off limits!  Didn't stop him from pushing the eyes in on my little porcelain china doll.

[KathieB]

Too cute. Love her spunk!  

[MaryKate]

Jo, I grew up with 4 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. Most of my toys did not survive, and a lot of those that did (including the first dollhouse my dad made for us) were given to other families. But we have a wealth of stories to tell about the things we did, and the trouble we got into! 

[Mimajo]

God bless your Mom.  I have three and could not imagine 7!  But there was always someone to play with, right?

[Lady-K]

This story is adorable and it ended exactly as I thought it would. XD

 

Thank you for sharing. :)

[MaryKate]

Oh, Jo, my mom definitely had her hands full! The good thing was, she had us three oldest to help after a certain point. I was babysitting by the time I was 11, and when we went to the grocery store (where she was also buying supplies for her father), we would use 3 carts: 2 for our food, 1 for Grandpa's, with the little ones riding up front and each of us taking an aisle at a time. It was quite the event when we hit the checkout line!! 

[stickyfingers]

That is adorable!

 

[Deb]

<giggling uncontrollably>  Oh, I like this kid a lot.