imaginations alive

"Mom, do you think dolls are real?" Sophie asked.
"What do you think?" I responded.
"Well..." she began in a bit of a ramble, "in the Little Princess Captain Crew gave his daughter Sara a doll and he told her that the doll would wake up at night and then they become still again before you wake up and that is what I think."

Sophie and I had this conversation on a cleaning day at our house.  My girls love their dolls...and Sophie more than any of them.  She has had this doll since before her first birthday.  It was always named "my baby when I was a baby."  A little while later she modified it, "Baby Sage, my baby when I was a baby" named after her sweet cousin Sage.

Now...about the cleaning day---a couple of months ago we moved all of the girl's toys in one room---a playroom.  We had an extra armoire and an extra tv with a dvd player.  It wasn't connected to cable...but the girls brought their movies in there.  Sophie had them running 24/7.  It was time to reorganize and de-clutter that room.  This week the girls and I consolidated, organized and cleaned out the closet, toy box and armoire.  They each have a small collection of American girl doll accessories and dolls.  I suggested that they remove the tv and fill that piece of furniture with their treasures.  They were reluctant at first but they sent the tv to storage in the basement and haven't missed it for one minute.  There has been a lot more imaginative play...and a lot more fun with their toys.  And the dolls have their own organized spot, which is important when they "wake up" each night.  :)  Maybe I should follow their example and take the tv out of my room.  CNN every night before bed might kill me off this election year!