"I was trying to make her clap!"

This has to be one of my favorite Anna stories so far. I passed down this beautiful Madame Alexander doll to Anna. My grandmother "Ma Ma" gave me this doll when I was a little girl. All children of the 70s and 80s who received one of these special dolls were told that they were not allowed to play with it. She always stood up on a shelf or on her stand and was never touched!

As it was for me, I put the doll high on her dresser so that she could not play with it. This doll has never been in reach for her to even try to get to it. I was not even aware that she noticed it at all. One night I walk upstairs to check on her and look in her room and see what you see in the picture. I picked up my doll that I have been keeping safe for 25 years and asked Anna "honey, whose doll is this?" Anna slowly raised her arm and pointed to me and said in a small voice "mommies." Then as my frustration grew I strongly asked "THEN WHY DID YOU RIP HER ARMS OFF?" As I was speaking this sentence, I started to laugh. I could not help but laugh because it sounded so crazy! Anyway, as she looked at me with those big brown eyes she stated " I was trying to make her clap!" How can you get mad at that? She wasn't trying to be a serial doll ripper of arms! She was plainly trying to make the thing clap. As you can see, the dolls in the year 2009 actually move and are strong enough to handle clapping of kinds. Unfortunately, Pinkie Doll did not do well. I have learned that Anna can sniff out the weak and I must keep all special things higher then high up on a shelf that she can not get to. Even if she scoots her tall Elephant that she moves around her room to use as a footstool. She is not longer trusted. (not that she should have ever been in the first place!)

All dolls must run, not walk, from Anna's grasp!