Playmates on Paper

When I was a little girl, I had a rather unusual friend and playmate.
Dawn Riley was an older lady, never married. Sometimes I would hear my parents refer to her as a spinster. I always called her Dawn Riley, never Miss Riley, and certainly not Dawn. She lived with her elderly mother, her aunt (another spinster), and several mean cats. Dawn Riley had touch-me-not doilies on the furniture and wore the brightest lipstick I’d ever seen. I remember thinking that she was rather fussy about a lot of things.
But Dawn Riley was my friend.
Why? I can name two reasons:
She was never too busy to play with me and we both liked paperdolls.
I could often be seen carrying a shoebox full of dolls and their clothes to her house on the next block. We spent hours cutting out fashions and dressing up our little paper ladies.
I’ve been thinking about Dawn Riley lately. My girl, Newt, has begun to outgrow and give away many of her toys: Barbies, Polly Pockets, Littlest Pet Shops… I view this mass toy exodus with mixed emotions. On one hand, I’m thrilled. I really don’t enjoy playing with those things, but as an only child, I’m usually all she’s got. On the other hand, my girl is growing up so fast. She’s no longer a little girl, but not quite a young woman. How did that happen so fast? It seems like just last week, she still had all her baby-teeth…
A few weeks ago, while searching for something else online, I came across this adorable paperdoll.

On a whim, I printed it for Newt and while cutting out, I told her about my girlhood collection. She was intrigued and excited to build a collection of her own.
Since then, we have added many fun dolls to her collection. And every time she asks to play, I remind myself that this might be our last time. The Barbies and Pet Shop Pets are gone; paperdolls won’t last forever.
So, I’m trying to make sure that I am never too busy to play. I think Dawn Riley would be proud.