The Gift that Keeps on Giving

No, I'm not talking about the separate phone line I asked for as a teenager in my father's house, at which I'm pretty sure he laughed when he told me that was the gift that keeps on giving.

I'm talking about the "Mansion in Minutes" we gave Ella for Christmas. It's a dollhouse kit that Dave gave me for our first Christmas at our first house. Seven years ago. I had expressed interest in it while shopping at Hobby Lobby and it appeared under our Christmas tree. I enthusiastically set to work on it. Then I got to the part where the pieces didn't fit together quite right and the instructions became more commentary than instructive. I'm quite convinced that the author is a master carpenter who found amusement in teasing amateurs like myself.

Progress halted. For years. We moved a partially built dollhouse twice and nearly got rid of it once. Dave couldn't resist ragging me about my unfinished project. What was the big deal? It was a Mansion in Minutes. Until he sat down to help me with it one day and realized just what a ridiculous pain in the behind it was. Tiny pieces had to be measured and cut and glued and taped to hold the glue and then they still didn't fit quite right. The only way that thing could have been built in minutes would be in a fully equipped carpenter's workshop, by a carpentar. Or my dad. Maybe. Though I think even he might have lost it and cheated a little.

In seven years time there was a lot of discussion about what I would do with it if I ever finished it. Luckily, I had a daughter so it was easy to decide I would give it to her. If I finished it. Just before I went back to work from maternity leave, I remembered that I was going to give it to her for Christmas and it was still a long way from finished. We devoted hours, and even considered contracting out the rest of the work, to complete it before Christmas.

When it was done, I had to furnish it. This was the part I had been looking forward to for years. I did some research and decided that dollhouse furniture is just too expensive to give a 2.5 year old. So, because I am a masochist, I ordered a 3-D puzzle that would be 45 pieces of furntiure (for $12!), which I also had to put together and paint. Maybe I'll upgrade the furniture for her one day.

Finally, the house was wallpapered, floored, and furnished. I bought Polly Pockets and a knock-off GI Joe to serve as the family. She loves it. I'm glad she loves it. I'm even more glad I can finally mark that off my to-do list. In this case, I think it's safe to measure time as they do in the book of Daniel, because "minutes" definitely translated into years.

You can see from this picture that I have a resourceful child. She thought nothing of using the dresser and the wardrobe as extra beds for her dolls. Oh, and the whole family generally sleeps in one room "each together." I wonder where she learned that?