Barbie loves... Who?

When I was little, I played with a bunch of hand-me-down Barbie dolls. I had 3 older sisters and they had numerous girl friends. So when the hand-me-downs came my way, I gladly accepted. I had a couple of Barbies, a Skipper and a Ken doll as well as the town house and sports coupe. And -- like mother, like daughter -- so it goes with my Old Soul. Actually, with all the hand-me-downs she's received, she has 16 Barbie dolls at last count not including the long-blonde-haired Ken and multiple little sisters -- Kelly dolls -- that didn't exist in 1970 when I was her age.

I played countless hours with Barbie and Skipper... but never got into Ken. I pretty much sidelined him. I don't know why... I just didn't see him as an option for Barbie. But GI Joe? Now that was a real man! He was rugged and tough and outdoorsy. Yeah, me and my Barbies all went for my brother's GI Joe. Matter of fact, Sarg kind of reminds me of GI Joe in a uniformed, shaved head, 5 o'clock shadow sort of way! LOL

So, the other day when I returned from our school drop-off routine, I noticed my old soul left some of her Barbie dolls out. The hot pink sports coupe was front and center on the kitchen table. And on closer examination, I saw that the old soul had Barbie out gallivanting but NOT with Ken! One of her brother's Woody Cowboys (from Toy Story) was riding shotgun to Barbie. Sherrif Woody looked more than comfortable with Barbie in the driver's seat. (Real men let women drive!) And, it looked to me like she was dressed for a fun and funky day with Woody. Yeah, my old soul is a chip off the old block, all right. My Barbies would have totally gone for the tall and lean Marlboro Man cowboy over today's surfer dude Ken!

Must be genetic!

P.S. The Old Soul had designated Ken as Barbie's Dad... Like I said, Sidelined!