Cherished Toys

Isabella Goes to the Spa

Isabella, Ruth’s Maplelea has been under some stress of late and Ruth came to the hard decision to send Isabella to the Maplelea Spa.  At the Spa Isabella will be able to relax and rejuvenate herself and when she returns to Ruth she will look a new doll.

Isabella Christmas Eve 2012 the day she arrived

Shortly after Isabella came to live with Ruth Isabella developed a twitch in her right eye.  Sometimes it was hard for Isabella to open her eye and at other times to close it.  Most recently Isabella has been sleeping with one eye open and Ruth is worried.

Sisters have a unique relationship Emily and Ruth can fight and be very hurtful towards each other.  As I remember my relationship with my sister Carla being at times.

And when the chips are down no one stands up for you like a sister.  So it was that Emily offered to have Brooklynn stay with Ruth while Isabella was away at the Spa.  Ruth ultimately decided that while Brooklynn is a nice enough doll she is not Isabella.  So with chin out and strong resolve Ruth brought Isabella to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for her trip to the Spa.

The rules around going to the Spa baffled Ruth Isabella was to travel to the Spa without any clothing as the Spa could not guarantee they would be returned with her.  This meant that we had to find an old blanket to cover Isabella up with for the trip to Newmarket Ontario.  Ruth also wanted to write a personal note to accompany Isabella just to make sure she was treated well. 

Ready to go it is now up to Grandpa and Grandma to complete the process of wrapping Isabella in brown paper and shipping her to the Spa. 

While clearly worried about this process Ruth is also excited to see Isabella return in her new white terry cloth Spa robe and slippers.

Sometimes being Grandparents means that you engage in the right thing: spending the time to make a 5 year feel OK about have a loved doll fix rather than the expedient thing which would have been to send  #KMF8 back to the factory in January when we realize the defect

Looking at the pictures of Isabella in her traveling bed and looking at the factory picture of #KMF8 I see a real difference.  Isabella is a cherished member of Ruth’s family, while #KMF8 is just a toy.   

This blog has put me in mind of the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.  I am going to get this book out of the library and read it to Ruth on her next weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's.

Matthew Harbour as Toby in "The Velveteen Rabbit." Movie
Feb 27, 2009

I would love to hear about your stories of cherished toys.

Grandma Snyder