Light and dark

I saw a couple of little girls the other day playing with dolls and prams. When I was their age no one would have commented on that. It would not have been at all unusual. I clearly remember my dolls. I vaguely remember Belinda. I think she must have been my first doll, given to me by my grandfather. Sadly my memory of her is with a bashed in head!  I remember Elizabeth who lost her hair courtesy of my younger brother. If you had one of those - younger brother - you might know how it is! I remember Carol. She was a much later doll - and she could walk - kind of! And favourite of all, Glenys. She was named after a cousin. Where the other names came from I have no idea. But Glenys was special and I still have her. She's in bits at the moment, waiting for a trip to the doll hospital. In spite of all this talk of bashed heads and hairless dolls, I loved my dolls. I mothered them, was their nurse, doctor  and teacher, and walked them regularly in their prams. They became sadly neglected when our neighbour had a baby and then I had a real live 'doll' to take to the park. I used to knock on their door almost daily and ask to take the baby out. Nuisance or mummy's little helper? Who knows?!

There was something lovely about the little girls playing with dolls - in sharp contrast to the miniature witches and werewolves on the same streets at the same time. The contrast was as great as that between darkness and light. And it reminded me about how important it is to fill our children with good things - things of the light and not of the darkness. I'm conscious of being accused of pouring cold water on all the 'fun' of Hallowe'en. What harm is there after all in little children looking cute in witches' dresses and wizards' hats? All I can say is that year after year I see progressively more darkness about celebrations at this time of year. And we call it 'fun' - and even more troubling - 'normal'. 

And yes, this little doll loving girl thought that one day she'd be a mum. God's plan for me didn't include that. But I have had some amazing children in my life - and still do. And a while back, in Rwanda, guess what lots of them received from their mama - dolls! Giving away these little dolls, knitted for us by an older lady in a Residential Home, was a lovely experience. The look on the face of each child was truly priceless.