There are always things that every little girl must have. This changes every few years. I remember when I was in sixth grade, the ‘have to have’ item was a Cabbage Patch Kid. I never had one, but everyone else I knew did. A few years before that, the trend was to have a very large comb sticking out of your back pocket. That trend was infinitely cheaper than the Cabbage Patch, but was just as important. Before that trend, I remember the toy to have for a while was the Barbie Dream House. That was a long time ago, but I hear they are still around.

I remember having a sleep over at a friends house, my first one actually, and she had a Barbie Dream House. I was jealous, and spent a lot of time playing with it. She didn’t seem to care about it, but now that I have my own daughter, I kind of understand why. The dream and the desire to have something that everyone else has is much stronger than the actual will to play with it once the item has come home. It’s a lot like anything else. Sometimes the chase is more exciting than the end result.

Her Barbie Dream House was a lot of fun, but I think I would have lost interest in it rather quickly. Though I can’t really say that I had a very short attention span, I did prefer to play outside. I would have loved to have it, but I suspect it would have gone unused for long periods of time. In fact, I have a suspicion that my younger brother might have gotten more use out of it than I did. I preferred to be outdoors, and the Barbie Dream House is not really something you want to haul in and out of the house to play with each day.

Whatever the case, I see that some children can still get the Barbie Dream House. I know that I will probably not buy it for my daughter until she is really into having one. Many toys that she has ‘had to have’ have ended up unused and taking up space in our rather small home. Girls who love Barbie will love it though, and I remember that it was a thing of awe for me when I was a girl. I suspect they are much different, but the idea is much the same.

Read about the Barbie Dream Townhouse.