Eight Favorite Things

"Another year is over," Mandy said, as the dolls sat around the fireplace, pretending to drink cocoa, because it was cold outside.

"It has been a busy year," Emil pointed out. "We did a lot of things."

"What was your favorite thing we did, Emil?" Veronika asked. "What's your favorite memory?"

Emil thought about that for a moment. "I think it was when Billy and I went fishing," Emil remembered.

"That was fun," Billy agreed, "but it was also fun when we cleaned the house and got to use the robot vacuum cleaner."

"When The Writer and her husband were gone," Mariah explained to Pippa. "There were a lot of things we thought about doing, like filling the tub with water and going for a swim."

"I'm glad we cleaned the house instead," Jolena said. "It made the writer very happy."

"Yes," Charlotte agreed. "We did the laundry and changed the sheets on the beds, too."

"That was fun," Billy said, "but my favorite memory was when we got our new wigs!"

"Yes!" Emil agreed. "That was very memorable!"

"We finally looked like real boys," Billy said.

Billy turned to Charlotte. "What about you, Charlotte?" Billy asked. "What is your favorite memory?"

"I think maybe when Jolena came back from her ski trip," Charlotte said.

"We all helped her bring all her things in from the car," she added, "or maybe when Mandy came home from Ireland."

"I had a great time in Ireland," Mandy said, "especially going out to tea."

"I agree, though," Mandy went on, "the best part was coming home. I missed my family, and I wanted to tell you all about my trip."

"What about you, Mariah," Charlotte asked. "What's your favorite memory from this last year?"

"I have enjoyed a lot of things," Mariah said, "but I think it must be being in the play. It was hard work learning my lines."

"I was so afraid I would mess up in front of all those people," Mariah added, "but I felt so good when the curtain went down and the audience applauded. It was worth all the hard work!" 

"You did a great job," Mandy said, and the other dolls all agreed.

"I thought you really were that character," Charlotte said. "That must be what acting is all about."

"Let me go next," Jolena said.

"Everyone keeps picking my favorites," Jolena explained, "but I'll bet no one will pick this one. For my favorite memory from this past year I pick visiting with my friend Elizabeth using the iPad. We only see each other on ski trips, but we can read to each other, play games, perform dances and do cooking demonstrations together. We even pretend with the bear house. We can see each other and hear each other. That's almost as much fun as being in the same room."

"That was important for children who couldn't be with their friends for months," Veronika pointed out. Then she turned to Mandy. "What was your favorite thing about the past year, Mandy?" she asked.

"My absolute favorite time," Mandy replied, "was when Pippa showed up at our door. I laugh every time I think about Billy's puzzled look, and how he said, 'You're tiny.'"

"And I told him I'm Pippa and that Tiny went to New York," Pippa giggled. She remembered that, too.

"That was funny," Mandy said, "but that isn't really why it's my favorite memory. It's because that's when you came to be with us and brighten our lives with your antics."

"Like getting into the medicine cabinet," Mariah admonished.

"Well," Pippa piped up, "I won't be doing that again!"

"It's OK, Pippa," Veronika reassured the smaller doll. "There's so much to learn when you're new." She paused, then went on "So what was your favorite time, Pippa?" Veronika asked. "What's your happiest memory from this past year?"

"I don't have too many memories yet," Pippa mused, "and Mandy already picked my first favorite." Then Pippa thought for a moment. "Well," she said finally, "I guess I would have to say it was when Veronika explained about the stories. That made me feel important. I'm part of something big, even though I'm little."

"We all feel that way," Jolena agreed.

"It's good you missed the fire," though," Mariah told Pippa. "That was scary! The smoke alarm went off. We grabbed all the pets that were indoors and met by the big tree in front of the house."

"Yes," Jolena agreed, "except that it turned out there really wasn't a fire. It was a false alarm."

"It was good practice," Veronika pointed out. "It was like a fire drill, and everyone did what they were supposed to do if we had a real fire."

"Veronika," Pippa said, "You haven't told us your favorite memory yet."

"Every memory I have is my favorite," Veronika replied, "and my seven favorite things are sitting right here with me!"

This must be another favorite memory for Veronika.

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide and from BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment.

Image on Mariah's shirt used with permission with thanks, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.


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Copyright © 2021 by Peggy Stuart

A Good Turn

Jolena came into the workroom, where the dolls like to hang out. 
"We have a problem!" she cried. 
All the dolls looked up from what they were doing.

"What is it?" Mandy asked.
"The Writer has to stay in bed for a few days," Jolena said. "She's sick!"
"People get sick sometimes," Veronika said. "Don't worry. I'm sure she will be well soon."

"Yes, I know, and it isn't serious, but the stories!" Jolena exclaimed. "How can she write this week's story with all the housework that has to come first?"
"I could write it if I were good enough," sighed Mariah.
"I could take the photos," added Billy, "unless I have to be in them."

"Why don't we think about the housework first?" suggested Charlotte. "Then we can see how much help is needed with the stories."
"Yes, we can help with the housework," said Veronika. "In fact, we can even do the housework if we work together."
The dolls made a list of everything that needed doing while The Writer was sick. They started with the things most important to people. Mariah can write quickly, so she wrote the list, while everyone suggested what to put on it.

Here's what the list looked like.

Cooking
Making tea
Feeding the dogs
Washing dishes
Laundry
Groceries
Making the beds
Dusting
Vacuuming
Cleaning the bathrooms
Taking out the trash

Then the dolls worked together to assign each of the jobs to a pair of dolls. They would work in pairs, because they are small, and it's easier to do things if they work together.

Jolena was put in charge of the cooking, including making the tea and buying the groceries. Billy agreed to help. He would be her assistant. When they were done with the food, they could do as much of the dusting and vacuuming that they had time for.
Charlotte and Mandy agreed to do the laundry and clean the bathrooms. Mariah and Veronika teamed up to put the clean sheets on the beds and take all the trash out to the street for pickup. Then they would help anyone who hadn't finished. They went off in pairs to do their jobs.

Jolena and Billy went to the kitchen. They checked the pantry and then the refrigerator to see what foods were running low. Billy held the door so it wouldn't close while Jolena was in there, because it's very dangerous to be inside a refrigerator and not be able to get out, even if you're made of vinyl!

Billy helped Jolena pull out some things from the pantry that she thought would be good together. She looked at her recipes on the iPad to find something she could make with what she had found in the pantry and in the refrigerator. She decided on a stew with black-eyed peas with potatoes and cabbage.

While she was doing that, Billy put down some fresh dog food and water for the real dogs that lived in the house.

Next Jolena and Billy made a grocery list. They wrote down all the food the family needed from the store to get them through the next few days. None of the dolls could drive, so Billy found a grocery delivery service online, and Jolena called to order the food they needed. The person at the other end of the phone call wanted a credit card, so they went to ask The Writer if it was OK to use her credit card. It was. They climbed into The Writer's purse to find it. Billy held the flashlight while Jolena looked through The Writer's wallet.

After the groceries were ordered, Jolena made tea to take to The Writer. She put the teapot, a cup and saucer, a spoon, a pitcher of milk and a little plate of cookies on a tray. Jolena explained to Billy that The Writer doesn't need sugar in her tea, because she is already sweet enough.

Jolena and Billy carried the tray together carefully up to the bedroom. They worked together to get the tray up the stairs without spilling anything.
Then Jolena started some bread in the bread machine. She checked it after just a few minutes to make sure the dough wasn't too dry or too wet, while she could still add water or flour.

The dough looked good, so Jolena and Billy carefully cut up the vegetables and put them into the slow cooker with some black-eyed peas, water, some spices and a can of tomatoes. It would cook for several hours. Then they had time to do something else until it was time to bake the bread and then finish fixing supper.

While Jolena and Billy were working on the food, Mandy changed into some casual clothes, and she and Charlotte worked together to start the laundry. They put clothes, sheets and towels into the washing machine with some detergent. Then they turned it on.

While the clothes were washing, Mandy and Charlotte got ready to clean the bathrooms. First they put on their wellies.

They would need these boots when they cleaned the toilet. They are small, so it's easier if they work together.

While they worked, Mandy and Charlotte listened for the buzzer that told them the washer was done. When they heard it, they went back to the laundry room and put the wet clothes into the dryer.

While they were doing all that, Mariah and Veronika worked together to put clean sheets on the beds. Mariah got on one side to pull the sheets and blankets up and tuck them in.

Veronika helped from the other side.

It took a long time, because they are very small, and the beds are very big, but they could do it, because they worked together.

Meanwhile, Billy and Jolena did the dusting. Mandy had explained to them that they should do the dusting before they ran the vacuum, because when you dust, most of the dust falls onto the floor, where the vacuum can pick it up. 

"This would go much faster," Billy suggested, "if we didn't have so many little things to dust. Then I could even do it by myself."
"That may be true," agreed Jolena, "but what if we needed one of these little things for a story? Like this rock that I'm dusting, maybe, for a story about geology. That's the study of the earth. It includes learning about rocks."
While Billy thought that over, the two dolls worked together to do the vacuuming. The vacuum is heavy, but Billy and Jolena are very strong when they work together, and they are close to the floor, so they can see tiny things that need to be picked up.

When Mariah and Veronika had finished with the beds, they collected all the trash from the house and put it into the big trash bag that was in the kitchen.

They took the kitchen trash bag out to the big trash can outdoors. Then they moved the big trash can to the street, because it would be picked up tomorrow. It's very big and heavy, so they had to push hard. They could do it because they are stronger together.

Then they took a turn helping with the vacuuming, because there is a lot of floor to clean.

Jolena and Billy finished the bread by putting the dough into a pan and baking it in the oven. They had to be very careful around the stove, because it can be very hot. They didn't want their vinyl to melt. The bread turned out nicely and no one was hurt.

When it was time for supper, Jolena and Billy put a dish with the stew onto a tray to take upstairs to The Writer.

After they delivered supper, Jolena and Billy found the other dolls waiting for them on the stairs.
"She's feeling better!" Billy exclaimed.
"Yes," agreed Jolena. "Spending the day in bed was just what she needed."

"The Writer said to tell everyone thank you very much," said Billy. "Not only did we take care of the housework, but we also helped write this week's story!" 
"It's going to be all about what we did today," Jolena added.

Just then, the dryer buzzer went off. "Bzzzzzzz!" it said. Mandy and Charlotte jumped up and brought the clean, dry laundry into the workroom, where Veronika and Mariah helped them fold it. They told Billy and Jolena to go sit down and rest, because they still had the dishwasher to load in a little while.

Billy and Jolena did sit down to rest, but they knew they could load the dishwasher quickly, because they could work together.

"This has been fun," said Billy after he put the last dish into the dishwasher. "Let's do it again sometime!"

The other dolls agreed with Billy. It was fun to work together to do things that none of them could do alone.



Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/19832501/?claim=j3fj3mbb8kt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart