An American Girl Doll for Adeline
Growing up in Wisconsin, we didn’t live far from Middleton, the location of the American Girl headquarters. My aunt bought me my first American Girl doll, Samantha, when I was about 7 years old, and I went on to add Kirsten, Molly and Felicity to my collection.
Each summer we would shop at a big American Girl doll sale that they used to have. Dolls were just $50, clothes were less than $10. It was amazing.
This year Adeline began to show a lot of interest in my American Girl dolls that I had brought out of storage and put in her room. We brushed their hair, talked about my favorites and when Mommy first got Samantha. I let her dress them and watched how she gently took care of them.
In late spring, she started talking about getting one of her own. After flipping through the catalog that arrived in our mailbox, she fell in love with Tenney, one of the newer dolls in the collection. She’s a perfect fit for Adeline, as Tenney lives in Nashville and wants to be a singer, just like Adeline.
American Girl kindly sent us Tenney to review just in time to give it to Adeline for her sixth birthday this year. Tenney lives in Nashville and loves to play guitar and sing. She’s a performer just like Adeline!
Over the past three months, it has been beautiful to watch Adeline fall in love with her first American Girl doll, just like I did nearly 30 years ago. Tenney sleeps with her every night. Adeline loves to dress her, style her hair and have her with her for day to day life.
She did an American Girl summer camp in July and I think that opened her eyes even more to the magic of story and imagination that comes with American Girl dolls. At the end of the week, she invited me to a tea party at the camp, where she and Tenney wore hats and celebrated a great week of learning and creativity.
This fall we are diving into the books together.
I love having a daughter who loves things that I loved as a kid. It is such an unexpected gift in motherhood.
American Girl Deal Alert
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my InstaStory about Costco and American Girl this weekend. They have Kit dolls with accessories for only $129.99 (retail would be $180!). That is a STEAL! They also have American Girl Wellie Wishers and Pets. Hope this helps as you shop for American Girl.
Did you have any American Girl dolls as a kid? What about your daughters?
Disclosure: Thank you to American Girl for sending us a Tenney doll to review. All love for American Girl my own.
After being babysat by a high school student who had a couple of American Girls dolls, I would pour over the catalogs trying to decide which doll I wanted. Finally, when I was about Adeline’s age, I received Molly for Christmas. I don’t really remember why I chose Molly, but I am glad I did because she and my Grandma shared a birthday and both were girls during WWII. Plus, my Grandma could sew so she sewed my Molly doll several outfits. Accessories for Molly – books, clothes, furniture became everyone’s go-to gift for me for several years, and I loved it. Molly went everywhere with me. Now as an adult she is proudly displayed in my home, and I change her outfits to go with the seasons.
I had NO idea they were based so close to where I grew up! Obviously I didn’t have one as a kid, but my oldest daughter became interested in them and she got one from the Mall of America store for her sixth birthday. My youngest daughter received one for her 3rd birthday and has been playing with the two dolls ever since! I grew up playing with Cabbage Patch kids so I love seeing my girls play ‘house’ like I did as a child. Elsa plans to ask Santa for American Girl doll clothes and play food for Christmas so the AG doll love is still very strong here! We also love to check out the movies from the library because of their wholesome and positive messages.
I collected the books, but never had any of the dolls. I’ve enjoyed reading the books again with my daughters, although none of them care much for dolls.