How about "born okay the first time" dolls?

I love dolls, almost all types of dolls. I even like Barbie dolls (not so much the Bratz Dolls, but that's another blog entry for another day) I don't collect dolls per se. I'm big into the tactile experience of doll play, and keeping a doll in it's box until it might be worth some money is cool and all, but just won't work in a house with two girls who both share mama's thing for dolls (whether they share my thing about tattoos remains to be seen.)
My favorite dolls growing up were my three Sasha dolls. If I had kept them in the box and never enjoyed them, I'm sure they'd be worth a whole lotta money. Instead, they're worth a whole lotta memories, and Bea loves to play with them when we visit my parents.
My least favorite doll was a beautiful and elaborately clothed doll in traditional Chinese dress. I got her at a tag sale on my street. I don't know what it was about her, but I was afraid of her until I was about 14 and I packed her up and we moved to Memphis. Maybe she carried some baggage from her old house. Maybe she was mad because I never gave her a name.
When I last saw her, she was up on a high shelf in one of the closets at my folks house. I never displayed her when we moved to Memphis, but I did at least take her out of the box. Why didn't I pack her up sooner? Because she was part of my doll family. She was sort of like a scary Auntie Mame to the rest of the dolls. The fashion dolls wanted to dress like her, the baby dolls wanted to be baby sat by her, and only the rag dolls and stuffed animals sensed something was up with her. Next time I visit my folks, I'm going to look for her again, give her a name, and see if she scares my kids as well.
I was all interested in reborn dolls and thought about learning to make them until Meg made a reference to one in our game last night. And now I'm afraid of them, too.

That's what I love about dolls. You can love them, hate them, and fear them. And now you know why I'm okay with my daughter's affinity for Living Dead Dolls. I hope she loves playing with them, and I hope she plays with them so well that they scare her. Because we all know how fun being scared can be.