Parents that keep EVERYTHING!

I am grateful that my parents keep everything and when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING!

My parents have kept everything from our (my brothers and sisters and my) childhood. This is no mean feat since I am the youngest of 5 children and they now live in a smaller house than the one that we all grew up in.

When I was visiting a few weeks ago, Mum rolled out a big storage container and this is some of the magic I found inside...and some other things that have been around the house for years (and I mean YEARS!)

Meet "Mary Stinky Lu-Lu" - this is actually one of my sister's dolls - a favourite. She is circa 40 odd years old. My sister named all her dolls Mary, after our Mum (isn't that gorgeous), some had 'middle' or 'last names' also.

Unfortunately, in the last couple of months, Mary Stinky Lu-Lu was subjected to a nasty moth attack and sustained some permanent damage to her right eye. However, her feet are in pristine condition because Mum has kept them in a pair of my sister's booties and socks.

This is my oldest brother's "Horsey Bow-Wow", a rocking horse that we all loved and played with. Horsey Bow-Wow is now permanently stabled under the stairs at my parent's house. Amelie is yet to discover him, but it is only a matter of time. Horsey Bow-Wow is approaching 50! You may notice that his feet are wrapped in plastic - they have been his whole life - so it's not surprising that his feet hooves are in pristine condition (don't ask me why my parents like to keep our toy's feet clean?!)

This is my other older brother's panda. He is wearing my brother's pre-school uniform t-shirt. Both Panda and t-shirt are circa 1976 or there abouts...

This also belonged to my brother. It was his 'lawn mower' and my 'vacuum cleaner'. Amelie loves to play with this when visiting my parents.When you push it along, little men with top hats bob up and down and make a squeaky noise.

This is a little handmade bag my Aunty Marcia made for me when I was aboutt 5 or 6. I remember feeling very touched that she had handmade it especially for me. Amelie loves playing with this bag now and we occasionally take it shopping with us.

This totally impressed me! These are some of my first (and favourite) 'big girl' sheets. I loved this sheet and dona set when I was a little girl. I am so impressed (and totally grateful) at the condition my Mum has kept these in. I can't wait to put them on Amelie's first 'big girl bed' when she graduates from her cot.

The pink tutu was a Christmas present from my parent's one year when I was little...before I had started ballet classes..they knew I loved to dance around the house and dreamed of doing ballet (I was so darn shy as a kid, I didn't have the courage to start classes until I was about 8 or 9 - this may have something to do with why I have enrolled Amelie, at the ripe old age of 2, in ballet class). I remember the tutu because it was one of those special Christmas gifts that made my eyes light up and just about pop out of my head. I remember thinking that 'ordinary people' couldn't possibly own their own tutus because tutus were something that only 'real ballerinas' had. The white tutu was my first concert tutu. Amelie loves wearing these.

...and my first ballet shoes...Amelie thought these were very special.

Amelie also loved my jewellery box with turning ballerina. She's wearing a little pinafore dress that was also mine when I was about 18months old with another little ballet skirt of mine.

This is one of my most favourite toys as a little girl - my treasured Strawberry Shortcake doll house. It is in perfect condition, complete with miniature Strawberry Shortcake doll inside.

And this plate (it came with a mug which didn't last the distance) was also one of my favourite things. It has only just made its way to our house as most of my nieces have probably eaten from it while visiting my parents. I absolutely love the fact that some 30 odd years later, I can give it to my little girl.

My absolute favourite doll/toy/thing when I was a little girl was my Blow Kiss Strawberry Shortcake doll. I seriously thought she was a real person and treated her that way for years - had occasions where she 'started school', 'had her injections', 'celebrated birthdays' etc etc. My parents encouraged me and joined in the fun (another thing I am grateful for) - they even bought Strawberry Shortcake her very own Christmas presents and put them under the tree (they were actually stocking filler presents for me but were usually strawberry themed e.g. strawberry shaped or smelling soaps etc).

Strawberry is still safe and sound at Mum and Dad's place and this isn't actually a photo of her but of another Strawberry Shortcake doll that Mum found at a flea market not long after Amelie was born and who she bought for only a dollar or two because she knew I would love for Amelie to have her very own Strawberry Shortcake.

Here is Strawberry Shortcake's very own couture wardrobe! When my Great Aunty Gina first came to visit us when I was little, she must have noticed how much I loved my Strawberry Shortcake because a few weeks after her visit, all of these beautiful hand knitted outfits arrived in the mail. The yellow jacket is a 'full length' coat with matching hat and embroidered flowers and you will see that she made quite a few coordinated outfits. I absolutely loved this gift and am so grateful I still have it to give to Amelie. I loved that Strawbs had her very own collection of personalised outfits and I wonder if this is what inspired some early creative/craft interest. Not long after this, my sister taught me to knit and from a very early age I started to make my own dolls outfits.

And here is my beautiful little girl with her very own Strawberry Shortcake (SS) doll. 

I hope that one day soon Amelie might come to love SS as much as I did ...but as I see her develop her very own interests, ultimately I will be happy if she too can reflect on her childhood with happy thoughts and memories of a world of make-believe, magic and fun and that I somehow played a role in all of that...and yes that even means that I will be happy...and will totally accept*...if she decides to have a "Dora the Explorer" themed 3rd birthday party...GULP!

*p.s. ...don't worry I can so totally 'cute-fy', 'shabby-chic-fy' and 'un-commercialise' Dora!