The Nester
About the Author

Myquillyn Smith, The Nester, is a home stager, redesigner and design school drop-out. Her last home (a rental) was featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Cottages & Bungalows, Ladies' Home Journal and in her upcoming design philosphy book, The Nesting Place: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful....

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
Recent Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Probably shouldn’t admit this out loud, but I’m SO RELIEVED to know someone else played with Barbies past the recommended age limit on the box! WHEW! 🙂 My wild imagination that led me to keep Barbie’s kingdom running strong was the beginning of my love of stories…and fairy tale love…and I’m so excited to live those things now. Had no idea they could be real!

  2. such a precious mom moment…. that peek into their maker’s design of them. xo

    my oldest builds and designs and replicates with legos for hours and days. my youngest just wants to take the characters and create battles and saving. engineer and youth pastor? 🙂 my best friend and i played with barbies reenacting happenings and relationships. i think we both could’ve been therapists lol. thanks for sharing. xo –kris

  3. Haha! Don’t feel bad, I played with Barbie until I was 18 yrs. old! And my parents loved it! But on a serious note… It is amazing to peek at a child and remember how it was to have a passion about something. Mine was being a teacher, and it has served me well in my current job.

  4. At 54 years old, I still love Barbie! Also love, makeup, nail polish, sparkling jewels, perfume…

  5. You’re embarrassed you played with Barbies at 15; I’m equally embarrassed to admit I never played with a Barbie :-). I did, however, spend hours writing letters to pen pals (remember when you could write to an ad in the back of Teen Beat or some such to get a pen pal in Korea or China or Japan? No, you’re probably not that old!). I traced alphabets in all sorts of styles from an old book of my dad’s. I drew and illustrated “newspapers” to send to my friends, and even designed a “club” card for my cousin and myself, since we had the same initials and were the KAO Club :-). I traced things, taped to the windows by the front doors, like a lightbox. And when my grandfather got the first personal computer I’d ever seen in a house, and all the word processor did was one font, one size, one weight, in green letters on a black screen, I spent hours composing pictures out of x’s, o’s and periods. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised I’m a writer and graphic designer now, huh? I see glimpses in my children’s activities of their future passions, and try every way I can to “teach”/encourage creativity, but I can’t wait to see what they actually end up doing.

  6. I loved baby dolls as a kid – the kinds that closed their eyes when you lay them down and came with their own bottles and diapers. Little did I know that years later, I’d discover my most deeply-rooted dream: to be a mother 🙂

  7. I love your post. My sister was 16 and I saw her playing with paper dolls, she cut out of magazines 🙂 But I? I am ashamed to say I never played with dolls. I always typed on my father’s old typewriter. I wrote short and long stories as child. If my father had to type, I wrote with colored pens in a notebook. And now? it Not surprisingly. I am a Dutch author 🙂

    And like yours my sons play hours with playmobil or Lego 🙂

  8. adore this post! i used to clean and organize the basement at my parents house for fun as a child and teen, and love doing the same at my home now as an adult.

  9. My oldest friend is my friend that I always played Barbies with, we could sit for hours rearranging houses, creating new outfits and taking them on outdoor adventures (of course with unique vacation spots). I had lots of creative outlets being the daughter of an Artist but that was my own little world.

  10. No biggie. I STILL play with Barbies. Or, kinda. I collect some and shuffle them around when I dust. 🙂
    I loved legos and love to build things now. I will have to pay more attention to the little kids in my life now.

  11. Sweet post!

    As a little girl, I liked to play school, designing class rosters with fun names and writing assignments and making reading packets. In junior high, a friend and I imagined a boarding school with dorm rooms that were accessed from our lockers. We had so much fun designing it.

    Hmmm, I’m a homeschool mom!

    PS I also played with my Barbies in high school! 🙂

  12. I always played with barbies as a young girl and decorated the houses. We had an old chair and I used the space underneath for the bottom floor and the seat for the second story( we couldn’t afford a Barbie house) when I got older I rearranged my room a million times a year dragging castoffs from all over the house. When I could drive I would drag my friends to look around furniture stores. I also alway loved babies ( live ones) and children baking and organizing! It’s no wonder I’m now a part time school aide and stay at home mama who redoes furniture and is always asked for decorating advice from friends neighbors and even strangers who know what I do!

  13. I remember being really young maybe around 8 and painting a lot of our light switches neon green! I remember thinking how much better they looked green instead of white. My parents did not so much agree with me. I also remember always going door to door in my neighborhood trying to sell anything and everything. I would try to sell crafts I made, sticks I found, my pets, anything that I could make money on. I can see now how much I love making and selling my art. I was building my business way back then!
    Angela

  14. When you write things like this, my eyes fill up with both happiness and sadness that my boys are getting older. We still have one Lego lover in the house. He’s still obsessed and I love it. I’ll see my oldest pick up his favorite action figures (that he’s had since he was 3) and play once in a while. I watch without him knowing and hope its not the last time I ever see him do that. (uh oh, eyes filling again).

    My favorite things were my easy bake oven (with pans that would rust at the slightest moisture), my Spirograph, and rearranging my room. I can totally see how each shaped me today. I love having my boys and husband walk in to the house at the end of a long day and smell something (hopefully) delicious in the oven. I work in graphics so I understand why the Spirograph held such appeal to me, and I love making our house work for us!

    • yes!!!!! You are so right about wondering if it’s the last time. One of my boys accidentally called me “mommy” at Christmas and it rocked my world. Last time?

      • My children are 20,18 and 13. This was the first christmas where I did not step one foot in the toy section and I must admit that it made me very sad. No christmas Barbie on the list this year. The kids hardly ever play with one another anymore…..on rare events I get to see them playing the wii and I just sit back and watch them laugh and play and it makes me so happy I could cry cause I know soon one of them will be off to school . Our family unit starting to part ways so I must cherish the games and the smiles that warm my heart.
        On another note as a child I had the cabbage patch dolls and my friends took them very seriously…..playing with them up into our teens…..I showed my daughter one when she was little and would have nothing to do with them. Oh well!!!

  15. I was always redecorating my room. I would tear the entire room apart and change it up. One of my best friends in high school recently told me how she remembered I would always do this and how following along with my blog I continue to do that but with an entire house! My gracious and patient mother–I must thank for not going crazy every time I tore up my room. She gave me a sanctuary to create in and I am forever thankful.

    • yep. it so reminds me how to be as a parent. Did you read “the last lecture”? he talks about how his parents let him draw on his walls. Then he became –a physics professor? chemist? something fancy like that.

  16. I love this post….I used to talk about how my best friend and I played with barbies ALL the time! As an adult I look back at how we played and remember she “played” with the dolls while I would set up our entire basement as Barbie’s mansion fit with big screen TV’s in every room. I remember them being so elaborate filled with shoe boxes, handkerchiefs, my parent’s 8 tracks for those big screen TV’s…and anything else we could use. I couldn’t wait to rearrange their spaces after school every day. Now…she’s a 1st grade teacher and I’m an interior designer who specifically spaceplans furniture for commercial spaces. I can’t wait to see how my kids evolve from playtime to their careers!

  17. Nester,
    I used to play with the snap together red bricks with white windows and doors. I also played with Lincoln Logs and would draw on graph paper for hours. I loved reading mystery books about 5th grade an understand now they had the best houses in them. My favorite house is in a Howard Pease, Mystery at Thunderbolt House book. I could fully see the octagon shaped foyer, the book lined Libray, and the two story Ballroom. What fun.

    rick

  18. I played with legos, lincoln logs, and tinker toys . I can remember loving to build things. I would take them apart and build something new. I was art major in high school so I guess it should come as no surprise that I ended up studying interior design and architecture. Now as a stay at home mom I pray about how to use that desire to create.

  19. Oh, how I remember playing school my entire childhood….and wouldn’t you know, I became a teacher:)

  20. I have to smile at this because I could tell who the author of the post was just by recognizing the rug your kiddo is playing on. I think it is wonderful that you have created, in so many ways, a place where they still feel safe enough to make-believe; to dream.

  21. I am pushing 60 and STILL have my original Barbie dreamhouse — the cardboard one that folds into a sort of suitcase. I love it and will not get rid of it. I don’t play with it unless my grandchildren are visiting!

  22. A very poignant post as I reflect back to my own childhood memories and that of my children. It certainly brought to light why I enjoy doing some things to others and I see how my own children have flourished in doing what they do today. One is a teacher and the other a computer geek! I played with Barbies I guess to about the age of 13 and I remember the best part was dressing her up and decorating Barbie’s house. Could explain why I love fashion and decorating. Didn’t make a career of it and ended up doing law. Don’t even know how that came about and the closest I can think of is I was always defending Barbie when Ken made a mess of things! LOL!

  23. I played with Barbie’s until I was well into my teens also. I’m now 52 and wish I could STILL play with my Barbie’s (yes I still have some packed away somewhere). The running joke with my fiance’ is that we have to find a house with one extra room that’s for nothing other than my Barbie city. We didn’t have (or couldn’t afford) all the townhouses, cars, etc. when I was small that they have now for Barbie and her friends. So my fantasy is to fill up and entire room with all the dolls and all the extras. I know there are some ladies out there that understand… even in their 50’s. 🙂 Men have fantasy football/baseball/basketball, play video games, and have their fun. I say, pull out the Barbies and play on, girls!!

  24. I’m glad I don’t have to be embarrassed to admit that I definitely finished playing with dolls wayyyy later than my counterparts and even then only because I felt the pressure to do so. But my heart has always wanted to just be a mama. I would be content at home mothering one child after the other if I could!

  25. My greatest joy was to play Hobbit. I had all sorts of adventures in the ditch in my backyard, involving Gandalf, dragons, elves, you name it. I guess I never did grow up to be a great adventurer (homeschooling mom of 4) but I still enjoy a sense of wonder and imagination in my world. So I think you’re right, our early play does point to how we’re framed, even as adults. Thanks for pointing that out!

  26. I have been an organizer from very early on. At my grandmother’s house I had a special drawer in the kitchen that was ‘my drawer’ and every time I went there, I would dump the drawer out, rearrange the buttons, pens, gum, rubber bands, etc into cute smaller boxes, old cigar boxes, stack the papers nice and neat. and so on. Still an OCD organizer now, only now I organize my hoard of stuff, not just the one kitchen drawer! 🙂 Love your blog Nester!

  27. I loved playing with the cool empty bottles and (needle-less) syringes from the vet and prescriptions. At 8 I thought I would go into nursing – and I did. But soon switched and am now a very happy pharmacist.

  28. I never thought of playtime as preparing for adulthood. When I look back on what my brothers and I did with our legos, it is so true. My older brother built farm machinery while my younger brother followed the instructions carefully and built everything just like the picture on the box. Now my older brother is a farmer and my younger brother is a physicist. : ) I personally gathered up all of the lego people and bossed them around. Haha!

  29. My adult daughter, and I, still play Barbies together on occasion (rainy days). We can’t understand collecting them, and laugh that we should never be invited to a Barbie collector’s house, as their pristine boxes would be “tampered with.”

    What we’ve segued into, which is considered “more socially acceptable” is creating on “Polyvore.” A very satisfying way of putting a myriad of outfits, or room interiors, together, with endless possibilities, while using your imagination.

    Never understood the negativity surrounding the Barbie doll. When I was 7, the girl across the street, Carol, was the best of friends when it came to sharing her Barbie, and playing “the right way.” When she got a new bubble head Barbie, she didn’t play with it because I didn’t get a new one. Now, that’s true friendship. Carol, from Fairfax, if you’re out there, I hope you got your dream house, and “Ken.”

    PS My son played with X-Men figures up until high school, when he announced, “You know, they just don’t do it for me anymore.” Then, it was ALL video games, then rally racing, now it’s a motorcycle. Sigh.

  30. My dad wouldn’t let me have Barbies, but when I went to a friend’s house and they would ask what did I want to play with, I always wanted to play with their Barbies.

    My daughters were allowed to play with Barbies, and we have two trunks full of Barbies, and clothes, lots of clothes! Saving them for future granddaughters…

    When I was just 7 or 8, I would play school with my dolls, and give them a piece of paper and pencil and assign them to write a poem, then I would go around to each doll and write a little poem.

    I thought for a long time it was probably about being a teacher, but it was about writing.

    It is amazing to look back and see God’s plan at work!

  31. I wish I had clued myself into this much, much earlier. Starting around age 7 or 8 and continuing with increasing complexity and realism until I went to college and had no work space, my biggest hobby was making dollhouse miniatures. I skipped the dolls entirely and went straight for the houses. Although I’d tried several times to figure out what was “me” as far as career aptitude, it was only after 5-6 years of dumb jobs and a layoff that I realized interior decorating was something I already knew I loved and was highly unlikely to get tired of. However… what with my young-married-expecting season of life, the timing was pretty bad to pursue a career change. Now I’m hoping to stay home with our kid(s) for the next 10 years or so, possibly helping with a family business, and get started on Career, Phase II around age 40! Seems far away, but luckily I have my house to play with and learn from until then.

  32. I too played with dolls until I was 15 and received one until I was 18. I am now a mom, homeschooler and I have a degree in Child Development. All that playtime served me well. I knew early on that I wanted to be a wife and a mom.

  33. As I scrolled through the comments I see Im in good company with fellow late-age Barbie playing gals. Makes me feel good I wasn’t the only one. 🙂

    I made clothes for my Barbies, I had a dress up chest, and put together fashion shows, or set up a boutique. I just loved fashion and clothes.

    After many years of leaving this side of me in the back burner, I just started a fashion blog. It’s small, but it’s something. 🙂

    You usually inspire me to make my home a place I love, today you inspired me to keep pursuing my little dream. This post struck a chord with me. Thank you for writing it. 🙂

  34. I played some with Barbie. Mostly I liked the Easy Bake Oven. You could create delicious foods. Also liked playing pool with the table top pool game. Any board or word game really gets me going.

    Did not have anything to do with my current or past positions as bookkeeper, secretary, medical assistant.

  35. I used to tear the pages out of my Dad’s US News and World Report magazines and make “worksheets” for my dolls and stuffed animals to complete after I taught them their ABCs or colors, etc. A few years later it was my baby brother who sat under my tutelage. I continued to tutor in high school…a refugee from Colombia with 3 small children who was trying to start fresh in our small town but knew very little English. And finally, in college, I studied to become an English/ESL teacher. I taught high school students for 10 years before our triplets were born. And most days now as a stay-at-home mom, you’ll still find me working on lesson plans for the kids to help them with their homework after school. Teaching has been in my DNA from the start!

  36. I was all over the map playing as a kid! I relished making mud pies, designing the landscaping for the hotels my brother would draw, fixing the manes/tails on my My Little Ponies in a bazillion different ways, writing stories with the names of paint chip colors, building absurd “recreational vehicles” with legos, creating imaginary rooms in my house and outside, learning sign language with a friend, my brother and I recording ourselves reading a book with sound effects, etc. I can’t think of any one thing that grabbed my attention more than another, except maybe reading books. I got a degree in art, knowing I wouldn’t pursue that as a career. I called it “training in creativity” and my life has continued to be a creative one, not requiring any one specific type of creative outlet. Music, language learning, cooking, graphic design, etc. all fit the bill for me. And incidentally, my adult life has also been lived all over the map, too–Midwest, South, China, Romania….

  37. I loved playing Barbies and decorating their houses too! Using pennies for plates and wash rags for rugs and carpets. My children are grown and I find it so interesting that their interests as children are what their passions are now. My daughter loved music as a child and would sit in my husband’s lap as he made the chords on the guitar and she would strum. She went to college on a vocal music scholarship and is very active in local theatre in lead parts. My oldest son would take things apart to see how they worked. He is now a black hawk helicopter mechanic. My youngest loved the “puter” as he called it and now works in the IT department of a group of Eye Drs.

  38. I played with legos until high school. then helped my younger cousin build with his legos after. In the later years of playing, I would only build houses and furniture, arrange the furniture, then tear them down to re-build something new all over again. :o)

    • oh forgot to add in college when the Sims came out, I played that game, found out the cheat codes just so I could build an awesome house for them! and great furniture!! LOL

  39. I really enjoyed reading all the comments and the blog!
    My family did not have have Barbies when I was a child, but I played with doll babies till I was “too old” to play doll. 🙂 My friends and I (and older sisters too) would make up all kind of stories, we had quite the imagination, as we played doll…school, church, shopping, etc. To this day, I love children and would love to be nothing more than a stay at home wife and mom! I have had a few babysitting/nanny jobs along the way, as well as working in a daycare. I also have been a receptionist, a teacher, a waitress, baker & cake decorator, house cleaner, etc.

  40. Love reading all these!
    “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man”. – Jesuit maxim

  41. I was exactly the same as you. (I also still have that Peaches n Cream barbie.) I remember there was the huge internal struggle in me from about 12 to 15 because I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing. (What do teenagers do? I’m still not sure.) My friends had long since gone on to teenage things like make up and calling boys on the phone and cutting celebrities heads out of teen beat magazine. But I wasn’t interested in that stuff. I never was. (I did eventually become interested in boys 😉 I wasn’t really playing with the barbies so much as arranging their homes and making up their stories in my head. One thing specifically about my barbies was that they were always packing up and going on an adventure. I guess that was definitely part of me because even now, I’m always ready to travel!

  42. Thank you for this post! Me, I played with paper dolls until my young teens (so much love for Tom Tierney!). I had a collection of several hundred. I used to sort their clothes into different categories for hours upon hours while I made up stories about the dolls and their lives. Turns out I’m a nut for fashion + history + historical fashion, AND I still really really love paper crafts AND I write fiction. My nerdy little hobby was pretty much a perfect fit for me. So, no shame here for past OR present obsessions! 🙂

  43. I blurted out “Peaches N Cream!” excitedly when I saw her this morning! So, yes, I played with Barbies and SHE, oh, she was my favorite of the Barbies. Her ring came off and her dress was so beautiful. I didn’t play so much with my toys when I was in my teens, but I was the first to “help” my much younger cousins with their new toys at Christmas. My brother and I played “office” for hours–we had phones that were connected and we could “buzz” each other for appointments. We both work in offices now, but my brother isn’t the boss (whew).

  44. I love Barbie. I played with them well into my teens. I was more into dressing them up, “styling” their hair (more like mutilating it) and making them look beautiful. I collect Barbies as well! I have some awesome dolls in my collection.

  45. I always loved a notebook and pen and books and a desk. I told myself stories. Since I was an only child, it wasn’t quite like playing make believe. But then, it might have been exactly that.

  46. when i was growing up we were a modest income family. money wasn’t taken for granted as both parents grew up through the depression. they were frugal and saved. this is not to say we were poor, but rather rich in our imaginations and use of what we had. and yes, looking back this has been a catalyst for my repurposing and love of interior design. when i was a young girl..maybe 10 or 12, i made my own barbie furniture out of jewelry & department store boxes (not the flimsy stuff we have today), contact paper, fabric, nonpareil candy tubs for sinks and straight pins for faucets. i think i still have them today in my attic. i went to college for fashion design & marketing but never had the “courage” to follow the fashion design end of it. who knew i’d end up where i am today based on playing with barbies! thanks for taking us back in time to relive some great memories.

  47. What brought me to this post? I had the EXACT same barbie, dress and all, that you have pictured… I just started laughing in my car.
    We recently had a house fire, and lost everything, and one thing that kills me is all the toys that we had collected, they very old and the newest of new. Even though my kids aren’t babies anymore (14,10&6), I would still find them, piled up in one room, playing with barbies, lego’s, makeup all while one was recording it all on his iPod ;). That is the absolute best thing.
    We played with barbies for years it seemed like! But I was the one who was always drawing and doodling and obsessed with technology… So needless to say, I became a painter, house flipper and blogger

  48. unlike most of the beforehand comments, i did not play with barbies or babies or decorate or play school or play house. i talked to my “imaginary playmates”. i took the characters off of the tv shows i watched (the brady bunch was my fav!) and pretended they were with me. i would spend hours on my bike talking to them. (i sound like i need meds!) i guess its no shocker that i ended up becoming a counselor. i always felt weird that i talked to imaginary people for so long…its not weird, i am just a people person. if i dont have real people to interact with, i just create them! 🙂 ha! i guess i am creative!

  49. I’m very similar to you, but for me it wasn’t Barbies (although I did probably play with them for longer than I’d care to admit). For me, it was the game The Sims. The one where you create people, build them homes, and get them jobs. Except all of my people were so unsuccessful because after I had built their dream home, I’d create another family just so I could build another home. I didn’t care about moving them up the career ladder, I just loved designing the homes. I wanted them all to have really cool places to live!

  50. I played with my doll house all the time and made little newspapers. Now I enjoy blogging about home decor… I know what you mean about watching your children play. It is so sweet and such a wonderful little glimpse into who they are becoming. 🙂

  51. Should I be scared? This week, my 4-year-old was playing with Barbies and Batman (we don’t buy her Ken dolls…yet). As I listened to her play, Batman was trying to decide who to marry — Jasmine, Ariel or Rapunzel. So I asked her if she’s ever seen “The Bachelor.” I’m praying that my daughter doesn’t become a reality TV show producer. (Thankfully, she also plays with a lot of superheroes.)

  52. I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote, and in between, I read. I also rearranged my bedroom something fierce (Kirk Cameron above my bed one week, Sean Astin the next…)

    Tate? She builds some seriously cool fairy houses out of cardboard, complete with rugs and beds out of matchboxes and beer coasters for art on the wall. She also makes books (also out of cardboard) and then leaves them around the house for her to add to the plots when inspiration strikes. She’s one of the most creative people I know.

  53. I love this! I remember as a child I was always playing school – I would line my stuffed animals up to be my students. ( I was a teacher for 12 years). I also played Nancy Drew Mystery – my friend and I would solve mysteries (that did not turn into a career, but I am so curious about everything). I used to pretend I was a singer and I’d stand in the side yard at my grandma’s and belt out popular songs at the top of my lungs – I knew all the words to The Streak. (As a teen and adult I sang specials for church) . I also used to rearrange my bedroom – I’d close the door and do it all myself, then call my mom in to see. (I wanted to study interior design, but went into education instead). To this day I am always rearranging something in my home and finding creative ways to decorate. And the writing – In High School I discovered that I loved creative writing and in recent years I have written for my church’s seasonal devotional books and started a blog. And I’m still using my teaching skills by teaching an Adult Sunday School class. Thanks for the opportunity to look back and realize how all the things I did for fun back in the day have helped shape the woman I’ve become today.

  54. I played with my Thumbelina and Betsy Wetsy dolls, spinned 45 records on the stereo, and wrote short stories, poems, and plays. Now I want to write a novel

  55. Oh I loved my Barbies too, but stopped when I was a bit younger than 15. I had not thought about how much I liked her clothing and setting up her house and how that feed into my passions now. Setting up her house with tupperware and boxes was so much fun for me!

  56. I do the same thing with my daughter! She is constantly making videos, online tutorials and even workout videos. She loves creating scenes and acting them out. I feel I may have an aspiring actress on my hands. 🙂

  57. I had Peaches and Cream Barbie!!!!! Loved her and made my own clothes for my 20 Barbies…even out of the inside of a toothpaste tub (it was silver inside). I also designed a canopy bed with a complete comforter/pillow set.

  58. When my best friend and I were kids, we drew our own paper dolls and designed all of their clothes. My mom reminded me of that after hearing that I’ve decided to make patterns and design and sew my own clothes.

  59. I don’t remember playing with Barbies, but I did play with dolls. However, I play with them and their house with my grand daughter all day. She never seems to get tired of Barbie.

  60. I know I’m going to miss the toys although they drive me batty some days! I was totally a pretentious cook/secretary (I guess that’s administrative assistant in modern terms). I still love to play on the kitchen & with papers in my office. I also had that peach Barbie too!

  61. I’m very glad you posted this. My daughter is 12 and still plays with her Barbies, arranging and re-arranging their house, designing new outfits for them. All of her friends have moved on…and she sometimes feels left out. I also played with Barbies until I was 15 and I feel so glad that I did. It was always a creative outlet for me in a world where there wasn’t much creativity… Be blessed!

  62. I was a cheerleader growing up and loved being on the sidelines encouraging our teams onto victory. I also had an intense fascination with babies. I remember going to a pro life event with my church and receiving one of the gestationally accurate 12 week baby in embryo form and studying that little piece of plastic. How does that relate into my adult life? I\’m a birth doula and have the opportunity to support women in childbirth and be their cheerleaders during such a precious time in their lives. I work both with moms and their husbands privately and also with moms ranging in ages at Crisis Pregnancy Outreach. We have parenting groups for moms wanting support in parenting and we are also a full service adoption agency. I often think of that tiny plastic baby and am in awe of the path my life has taken me to today. It is amazing the seeds planted in our youth.

  63. My Mama told me that when I was 3 years old a dragged rail road ties from a pile in the yard and laid them out into rooms as my house. Home is still my word.

  64. I loved my Susie Homemaker kitchen!!1 I still enjoy cooking. I also played with dolls for quiet a long time. Now, I was an only child so I often needed something to do. I loved to play school with them, then I taught school for 11 years as an adult. 🙂 I also homeschooled my sons for many years, and still help with occsional assignments if they need me. 🙂

  65. As nerdy as it sounds, I actually loved playing with office supplies and looking at classroom catalogs. As early as third grade, I would sit down with teacher catalogs and plan out my whole future classroom. I begged my little sister to come to “school” after school just so I could teach her a little bit more. These were clearly hints of a future passion!

  66. Hindsight maybe narrowing my remembrances some, but I do remember enjoying looking through cookbooks, making cookies, pies and bread with my mom. I still have this Disney cookbook… Always liked food and science, who new that was a career choice, now I’m a dietitian and use food knowledge everyday.

  67. Have I ever told you that I never owned a single Barbie in my life? My mom thought they would teach me low self-esteem – as if a toy can give that or take it away. I loved playing with them at my friends’ houses (though not into my teens, I’m just saying), mainly for the pretend meet-cutes, dates, dances and weddings. Wouldn’t it be amazing if I said, “And that’s why I became a matchmakers/wedding planner/romance novelist”?

    As you know, I’m none of those things, though I have attempted them all in one form or another. I do, however, have an impressive knowledge of Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock and dozens of romcoms that I pretty much have memorized. So there’s that. 😉

    (I do love this post and can look back at other ways I played as a child and see their connections to my grown-up passions. God blows my mind every time I realize how He’s been molding me this entire time.)

  68. My daughter is almost 11 and she is crazy over her american girl dolls and lego friends sets. she is always inventing new things for her dolls and within the last 6 months she has been into taking pics of her dolls and lego inventions and creating mini movies. I hope she continues with her toys for a as long as possible.

  69. I had to laugh when I read this, because I was the same way with my Barbies. I recently gave a design presentation at a retreat, and when I asked when my passion for decorating began, that was my answer-that I could trace it back to the hours upon hours I would spend setting up elaborate Barbie houses (and by the time they were all set up the way I wanted them, there was no time to play with the dolls anyway!). How cool that God has made us all so uniquely that we can look back on our childhood and see little hints even then of the gifts He has given each of us. 🙂