An American Girl Part 2

After Ella proclaimed that her American Girl Doll, Christy, needed a sister, I knew we would have to venture back to the American Girl doll store. And I feared the worst because this voyage would occur during Christmas time.

As we walked through the parking lot toward the front door, I saw a sports car parked right outside the front door. I realized that what was happening was that a mother was teaching her daughter the valuable life lesson that you should never take the McLaren on a shopping spree. I chuckled as I watched them kneel down on the sidewalk and remove the dolls from their boxes because the mother obviously failed geometry in high school and didn’t realize that you cannot fit an entire army of American Girl dolls in a two-seat sports car unless you remove them from their boxes and stack them like sardines.

Due to our stroke of genius strategic planning of attending an earlier church service, the store was not ridiculously crowded because the 11:00 services hadn’t let out yet. Even with the reduced crowd, I saw more Botox there than you would see at a typical Kardashian family reunion.

I have absolutely no skills that are useful in the American Girl Doll store, so I held Audrey’s hand as she ran laps around the store. We went up and down (and up and down) every aisle, so I was able to scan the price tags of every single doll. I noticed that the Disney Signature Frozen Collection Doll costs as much as my parents paid for my first car. My friends from high school who rode in the 1978 Ford Grenada know that this is not an exaggeration.

About halfway through Ella’s selection process, we decided to get a picture of the girls in front of the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the store. We only had to wait half an hour, as the lady in front of us had to take a picture of her child individually with each of the eight dolls that she bought her daughter.

After Ella finally decided on a doll, she spent the greater part of the afternoon deciding which accessories to buy. I couldn’t blame her because this is a very important decision. I cannot imagine the shame and ridicule that her new doll, Emily, would face if she had to walk around with a purse that didn’t perfectly match her outfit.

Because Ella took so long to pick out the accessories, that gave Audrey and me plenty of time to walk around. I’m pretty sure we completed a 5-K by the time Ella finally made her decision. At one point, Audrey stopped and sat down on one of the seats by the Christmas tree.

Normally, she is like a little Tasmanian Devil when she gets going. Just non-stop energy for hours. So, when she sat down, I got down on one knee and signed, “Are you tired?” Audrey looked me in the eyes, nodded her head, and signed, “Tired.”

One word. One sign. But it was so much more than that.

As much as I enjoy making fun of the American Girl Doll store, it will always hold a special place in my heart because that was the location where Audrey and I had our first conversation in sign language. It was a short conversation, but I’m going to count it.

It’s been a long, slow road, but we are going to get there, Baby Girl.