Playing with dolls

My boys went from Thomas the Tank Engine to pets. They've said the majority of their peers don't plan to have children due to anxiety over climate change, they aren't optimistic about the long term future. Also, how would they afford kids when most can't afford their own homes unless both work, and nursery fees being so impossibly high? Like Italy, think the birth rate will soon start to fall.

Both my younger GCs (one boy, one girl) play with the dolls I have at my house, happily swapping between who is 'mummy' and who is 'daddy'. No difference shown in the roles, though GS does tend to carry his dolls round by their hair whereas GD tends to carry them like babies!

When I was 5 my mum gave me a baby doll on the day my baby brother was born. I cared for her like she cared for the baby. I still have her sitting on the top of my wardrobe nearly 70 years later.

I always played with dolls until I was 14. In my day we didn’t grow up so soon.
I still have my bisque headed baby doll, Billy Boy, size of a six month baby. Given to me when I was seven and enjoyed making clothes for him. He is dressed now as in 1940 with all hand knitted vest etc. made in two ply wool.

I never liked dolls but had a big collection of soft toys and a muffin the mule marionette. I have three adult daughters and five grandchildren, three of whom are girls. We just gave our middle granddaughter (aged six) a Barbie at Christmas, because she so passionately wanted one. The girls in the othr family prefer Lottie dolls, which are more lifelike in their body shape.

I wasn’t a a fan of dolls and DD2 was completely disinterested. She refused to wear a dress until her late teens (she’s changed a lot!) and lived in jodhpurs throughout childhood. I remember her underneath our horse trailer aged 10 to see if she could spot a problem we were having. Her own daughter aged 4 is as feminine as they come - dolls, princesses, fairies, unicorns and the film Frozen are her fave things. Though starting to get into Lego now.

V3ra

My grandson at 17 months old was given a baby doll for Christmas.
My daughter had trouble persuading my grandson to go to bed one evening, he hadn't finished giving his baby its bottle 😂

DD wasn't interested much in dolls whilst DS often had a doll "or a cat" in his arms as he wandered from place to place. We were very eco friendly even then (1970's) and had toys made of wood or tough cotton. DS particularly enjoyed pushing DD's wooden(!) doll's pram about complete with baby doll 'passenger'. He'd take the doll out to 'feed' it too! He was the first to produce a DGS for us by 8 years. DD is now a parent of our DGD and second DGS. Both are very responsible and loving parents....

watermeadow, I don't think there's any link (let's hope not, Granmarderby10) as I never liked dolls or teddies, one of my daughters was terrified of fluffy toys, another scared of unfamiliar animals - still, we all had kids and pets that thrived!

I think it's good if there are toys available to 'nurture' if a child is so inclined - but never foisted on them. One tiny teddy, given by a pushy relative, was promptly flushed away by my son!

Despite my love of small dolls I never had the slightest interest in babies or maternal instinct. I dont feel any urge to cuddle them when they cry. Rather to smother them!

My sister once dumped her baby on me so she could go out shopping. Didnt ask, just dumped the carry cot by me and waltzed off. I was in the last few weeks before I left home and had the front room as a bedsit with a hired TV. When she returned she asked "Where's the baby?" I told her that he began to cry so I dumped the carry cot in another room and turned up the TV. She never again asked me to babysit her child.

At least dolls dont cry!

Most of my dolls, after the initial “honeymoon” phase ended up naked with various limbs missing in a jumbled heap at the bottom of cupboard.
Was this an omen of things to come? 🙀

I could never see the point of dolls when a child. DD wasn't interested either other than as a very young toddler.

A niece who was very much into her dolls went on to work with babies and very young children. It would seem that it doesn’t usually follow though!

My daughter loved her dolls and telling me stories about their lives and the things they did.

When she was 4 she asked me if when she grew up and was an engine driver she had to be a mummy as well. I replied that no, she didn't, but she enjoyed playing with her dolls. Her response was: dolls were different. You played with them and then put them down and went off and did something else. Babies had to be looked after all the time. She seemed to have decided by then that babies, real babies, were not for her. She is 50 this year and has never changed her mind,

Brilliant pic Witzend. Love it.

Callistemon21

Hithere

Op

Please tell me you are kidding me with this post....

If not, it is very disturbing

It reminded me of when the lifelike dolls that screamed were taken into youth clubs and teenagers had to see to their needs - it was supposed to put teenagers off getting pregnant, not encourage parenthood. I don't think it worked.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/lifelike-dolls-scream-need-fed-14674697

I remember teaching teenagers who brought eggs into class. It was a salutary lesson in responsibility from which they learned a great deal. Everyone took it seriously: I recall being asked to babysit while the mother or father was otherwise occupied.
Woe betide anyone who allowed a ‘baby’ to roll off the desk...
It was an excellent scheme.

My childhood friend and I both loved pushing dolls around in prams when we were young. 'Caring' for the dolls was always our favourite game. She grew up to have 3 children and I had 4.

Love the pic Witzend

Biglouis
I agree, you can do both.
My dolly daughter was also a real daddy’s girl, whatever he was doing, she would want to be helping. She excelled at many sports, some to a high level, she was fearless, and up for anything, but she also loved her babies.
When she got to about nine, whenever her friends came around, they all had to be hidden away.
Her most beloved one is still in the playroom.

As well as a doll house and small dolls I also had a meccano set, a fort, a garage and a train set that had belonged to a (deceased) uncle. I played with my dolls on these and rode them around in the trains. I also had a set of lead soldiers who attacked the fort with my dolls inside it.

When I did finally make it to uni I did military studies as part of my psychology degree. I was the only female on the course and got a 1st.

Make what you will of that.

If I could go back in time and choose I would not have been born a woman because I believe we always get the "dirty end of the stick" with periods, childbirth and the menopause.

I loved those paper dolls too Hellothere1 and I also had lots of other dolls including a collection in national costume. DD was never interested. DGD loves her dolls and still plays with them aged eleven.

sodapop

Daughter 1 pushed her dolls round in the pram and generally looked after them. Went on to have three children
Daughter 2 threw the dolls out and pushed the dog round in the pram. Never wanted children.

On the same theme…
No privacy concerns, she’s 40 odd years older now!

I had dolls but never played with them (I’ll give my mother her due; she was a trier!). I was a terrible tom boy! Much happier playing soldiers, cowboys and Indians or mad scientists, and rampaging round the woods. My DD was very much into dolls and I did play with them with her, knitted clothes, etc. My best “doll” experience, though, was playing with my Grandson and his Action Men. We had (still have) a huge plastic crate full of them and all their clothes, vehicles and kit. Astronaut, polar explorer (with sled and dog), foreign legion, you name it. We had wonderful adventures in the garden. It was as if I had my childhood all over again. They are all living in happy retirement in our loft!

As a child i always found dolls creepy,i`m not a lover of them as an adult.
I loved teddy bears,and was in my oil tot climbing trees and buildings,so a bit of a tomboy,maybe that`s why..
Had 2 boys,so grew out of climbing,can`t remember the transition period though.

Daughter 1 pushed her dolls round in the pram and generally looked after them. Went on to have three children
Daughter 2 threw the dolls out and pushed the dog round in the pram. Never wanted children.

I was desperate for a Sindy, my dad said if I wanted one I would have to save up, it took me ages, but eventually I had 24s.
I really wanted the blonde one, but they only had the auburn one, but I loved her anyway.