Sister Torture

A long time ago Missy called me from Target saying she had found an Asian CPK doll, did I want her to pick it up for Anna-to-be. I said sure, but she refused to let me pay for the doll or the shipping. Unsure of when it would be most appropriate to give AnnaWen the doll, it has sat in my closet for several months. With Wen's recent bday coinciding with more than usual financial stress, I decided to include the CPK from Missy in the presents. Wen opened it with a thrilled shriek "A BABY!" and asked for her to be removed from the packaging immediately. All was fine until someone squeezed the doll's hand and it giggled and walked forward. Then she freaked out. She does not like toys that jump or walk by themselves.

We put the doll away for a few days, but Paxten has been itching to play with it. This afternoon Paxten brought it down while AnnaWen was safely out of reach at the counter so I encouraged Paxten to play with the doll and managed AW's terror by inviting her to watch from my lap. From that safe perspective, she soon realized the doll was quite funny, laughing and babbling as she waddled forward... after a few minutes, she even braved getting out of my lap to watch standing a safe distance on the floor. As the doll walked away, with Paxten pressing her hand each time it stopped, Wen crept closer and closer laughing.

It wasn't so funny, though, when the doll ran out of room at the wall... Paxten picked it up, spun around towards a retreating AnnaWen, thrusting it forward towards her face and chasing her back across the room. To her credit, PJ wasn't trying to be mean, she thought AW was over her fear of the doll and wanted to show it to her closer up... but all ground of bravery seems to have been lost.

N