a barbie birthday

So Barbie turned 54 yesterday.  Gosh.  Just the word “Barbie” brings back an incredible flood of memories.  All good.  Summer memories of entire glorious days spent playing Barbies. Sun up to sun down, over in the side yard with my next door neighbor and my sister.  Pure bliss, I tell you.    Yes, if good ole’ Babs were here sipping coffee with me this morning, I would say, “Thank you.  I loved you.  I was obsessed with you”.  Let me also say that this was a pretty common thing for many, many girls my age.  And speaking of “my age”…  Let’s just say that Babs and I have a close connection.  In age.  She was “born” in 1959; I was born in 1961.  I’m fairly certain that our lives would have crossed paths.  After all; who knows, right?  Our kids may have been friends.  We certainly could have been neighbors.  In the same Bunco group, perhaps? Ya – Barbie and I probably would have been Brownie and Cub Scout leaders together. Pretty sure about that one.  Well… other than the fact that Barbie had quite a few careers to juggle throughout the years.  Let’s see; she was a princess, firefighter, cowgirl, Paleontologist, pop singer, NASCAR driver, car burglar, jet pilot in the Air Force, waitress, astronaut, olympic gymnast and ran for president of the United States four times. And that’s the short list.  See more HERE. So I’m thinking maybe the scout co-leader thing is out.  Just sayin’.

And so Babs and I are now in our 50’s.  Personally, I am just gonna say that the “50’s” absolutely rock!! There is a certain sense of self awareness and confidence unlike any decade prior. It’s that “Like it, or not, I am who I am.  The end.”  Love that.  What I don’t love, however, are some of the other little “goodies” that seem to catch up with you in your 40’s & 50’s…  Ann Brenoff, from the Huffington Post, captured those sentiments in an article honoring Barbie’s birthday – “Barbie, Your Roots are Showing”.  I encourage you to click on and read the entire article – but here is just a portion of Ann’s article…

“Barbie, the missile-breasted doll who never ages, actually turns 54 today. And while it’s not one of those milestone birthdays — the ones that end in a 0 or a 5 — we think we know how she’s feeling about this one.

But Babs? She definitely is hanging in there. For one, Barbie has always had that stiletto heel thing down pat (remember: This is the doll who wore them to go sky-diving), although we suspect that in real life, 54-year-old Barbie kicks those suckers off as soon as she gets home and secretly wishes that comfort shoes weren’t so damn ugly. We are pretty certain she’s asked her publicist to get rid of those Web photos of her wearing Naturalizers, but wouldn’t it be nice if someone, somewhere could make a stylish shoe for women with bunions? Yep, Barbie’s got bunions. (You can see them if you look really, really hard at her permanently arched tiny feet. Try drinking wine first; it helps you see doll bunions.)

And I think we all know what real-life Barbie doesn’t want for her birthday: A cashmere sweater. Just looking at sweaters, especially turtlenecks, triggers her hot flashes. She tried hormones — hoping that they’d improve her memory too since she is always losing those damn little shoes of hers into the carpet — but the weight gain was more than she could handle.

The good news is that, at 54, Barbie very much still wants to work. Rumor has it that she’s introducing a line of reading glasses for all the little girls who grew up playing with her.”

Ouch. That hurts, doesn’t it, Babs.