More on-line shopping

for Sophie, of course. At the American Girl store, which is sort of a problem.

Sophie insisted on spending some of her own hard-earned money (from a one-time modeling gig) on one of these overpriced plastic creations. I'll be honest: While I'm sort of a Pollyanna myself, the overly cheerful outlook—where children overcome tragedy, racisim, and the like with little else than good attitude and gumption—sort of sets my teeth on edge. But it could have been worse: At least these dolls for children actually look like children. And despite the fact that I do not really like dolls, this is not about me.

So I supplemented Sophie's bank, and we did a mother-daughter day at the American Girl store in Los Angeles during a visit to my parents. For an absolutely crazy amount of money, we got coupons for spending (to make sure you don't escape without a doll), a picture taken with newly purchased doll, afternoon tea in the cafe (actually very nice), and tickets to their musical review show. After considerable bickering (I wanted Josefina, who I think has the best accessories), Sophie selected Girl of the Year, Nikki:

And in a moment of total weakness, I kicked in more cash for matching pajamas for Sophie and Nikki:

So far, so good. Until the end of the show. At this point I had just about had my fill of enormously talented, super cute children acting out the stories of the various dolls. But when they came to Mollie, whose father was soon expected home from fighting in WWII, and burst into song "The war's over! We won!! Hurray!!!" or some such nonsense, I almost lost it, and I'm still pissed about it. What crapload is this they're shoveling at my kid? We had to have a little talk in the car on the way home:

C.: You know that song at the end of the show? Where they sing about the war?

S. Yes! It goes: "The war is over! Hurray!! We won!!!"

C. Right. But that's not true.

S.: What do you mean? American Girl is lying?

C.: Sort of. But maybe they're just confused. Really confused. See, when there's a war, lots of people die, children lose their parents, people lose their homes, and when all that happens, no one wins. Everyone's a loser.

S. Like in the war that's happening right now?

C. Right.

Goddamn American Girl. Still makes me steam when I think about it. But I put politics and political correctness aside and ordered the violin:

And a party dress for the holidays:

Check out the cute shoes that come with it:


I think that's enough shopping for Sophie. Big S. also bought her a digital camera—in pink! Some of the presents will be from us and some from Santa. Yes, she still believes. Or maybe she does says she does because she thinks that will net her more stuff. Nah.