Every little girl wants a Barbie? Not our Megan!

On Sat, I spotted a little notice in the Straits Times called "Share a Barbie".
It's an organisation requesting pp to donate their Barbies dolls to be given to the orphans in China this Christmas. The target is to collect 3000 dolls and they will be shipped to the outskirts of Beijing, Chongqing, Qingdao, Hangzhou, etc.

Our lil gal, Megan, owns two of these dolls. They were given to her, one by my sis and Andrew, and another by our fren Elaine. She played with them only for the first few days she had them. After that, she lost interest, I think she didn't quite understand what is so fun in changing their clothes, combing their hair and all. haha... Nope - Meg is not a typical "gu-niang" lil gal, a bit like me. You won't find her wearing saccharine-sweet dresses with lace. At some point, Alan and I did wonder if we should "make" her wear more of such clothes. Then we decided against it - she looked so much more at ease in dresses and clothes that she's comfortable in. And we won't wanna make her into someone she is not.

I've seen/heard of/counselled enough girls who dress themselves as "butches" cos they've been forced to wear dresses by their moms. Anyway, back to my Barbie doll story.

So after seeing that ad, I called out to Meg and asked if she'll like to give away one of her Barbie Dolls to these children who don't have daddies and mommies? She agreed readily, and went into her room, took out BOTH of her Barbies and their extra clothes, handbags, shoes, hats and other accessories. Alan asked if she wants to donate both her dolls, and she said, "Ya, cos I've got many other toys to play with already."

We were still a little shocked, and there I was, wondering if I should secretly keep one of them, in case she changes her mind (you know how moms can be lah!). Then our son, Joseph shouted, "I also wanna give something!" He ran into his toy room, and came out with a basketball. We tried telling him that they are only wanting Barbies, but he was really insistent. So Alan and I decided not to squash a little boy's enthusiasm and packed it along with the Barbies :)

We are proud parents.

One of the characteristics we prayed over our babies before they arrived was that they will have a heart for people - compassion. Nothing's sadder than to have every material thing in this world but not have a heart for the lost or the less fortunate. Praise God for instilling this seed in our kiddos.

Yup, that's our story! Check out Meg posing a last photo with her Barbies - and check out her happy smile and new haircut!