Hair Today, Curly Next Week: Part Two

When we last saw Mandy and Veronika, they were looking at their hair in the mirror in the bathroom.

Veronika's hair was the same as always. Mandy's hair was in little braids all over. Veronika thought it looked interesting. Mandy wasn't sure, but she hoped she would have curly hair when they took the braids out.

Veronika had brushed and combed and washed Mandy's hair for her. She had been very careful not to get water into Mandy's eyes.

Then they had gone back to the workroom, where Veronika got out the stretchy bands from the box with the hair things. Then Veronika braided the wet hair.

Then they had gone back to look in the mirror again and talked about Mandy's roots. They also talked about Veronika's roots, which are different, because Veronika was made to have two braids with a part in the middle. That's where we left off.

When Mandy and Veronika came back to the workroom again, the boys had come in and were relaxing on the new daybed. The Writer had put the daybed there so when company comes, there will be another place for real people to sleep.

Emil and Billy looked up when the girls came in. "What's that on top of your head, Mandy," Billy asked. "It looks like you're wearing an octopus!"

"I think it looks more like a spider," Emil countered. "A big one. Maybe a tarantula (tuh-RAN-cha-la). He had been reading about the spiders as big as a doll's head.

Mandy didn't bat an eye. She wouldn't have, even if her eyes could close. She was not surprised at the comments. She was not offended. She knew they were just being boys, and she thought it did sort of look as if she had some kind of many-legged creature on her head. "Too many legs." she pointed out. "A spider has eight legs. So does an octopus."

"Maybe this one is a mutant (MEW-tent)," Emil suggested. "Maybe it hatched with too many legs." Emil said it with a straight face. He always said everything with a straight face. It is how he was made.

Mandy had to keep her hair in braids for a week. It didn't stop her from doing things.

On Monday Mandy went bird-watching with Billy and Emil. They took turns carrying the bird book, because it is heavy, even though there are only birds inside it.

On Tuesday Mandy sat with Veronika and listened to Charlotte play her violin. Charlotte was going to have to play at something called a recital (ree-SYE-tul). She was going to perform with other dolls who took music lessons from the same music teacher. She wanted practice playing in front of an audience, so she wouldn't be nervous.

On Wednesday Mandy walked with Pippa to the lake. Pippa had to carry her own towel and her pail. Mandy carried her towel and a basket with water, a snack and her knitting.

On Thursday Mandy and Mariah rode the bicycles to the library. They wore their backpacks, because they needed to take some books back and planned to check out some others to read. Mandy told Mariah she planned to look for a book about tarantulas. Mariah said that she sensed a story there.

On Friday Mandy helped Jolena make a corn salad for supper.

On Saturday Mandy helped Emil learn to balance his checkbook. Being able to balance your checkbook is an important life skill! While she was helping him he did not mention tarantulas.

Whatever she had to do, Mandy went on about her life as a busy doll. Everywhere she went, her braided hair went with her. Everything she did, she did wearing her hair in braids.

When it had been a week, Mandy asked Veronika to help her undo the braids and brush her hair.

Veronika was very happy to do that. She was interested to see what it would look like. 

When all the braids were taken out and the hair brushed, they tried to style Mandy's hair. 

"What do you think?" Mandy asked Veronika when it was all combed out. The hair was now so thick and curly, that it was difficult to manage.

"It looks interesting," Veronika said, "but what do you think?"

Mandy was more concerned about being able to see her knitting.

They finally got it into a style they thought looked nice. Then the girls went to look in the mirror again. 

They looked for a long time. Then Mandy finally said, "That was fun, but it was a lot of trouble. I'll put on a nice dress. Let's get Billy to take some photos, so I can remember." 

"Good idea," Veronika agreed.

Here's the photo Billy took.

After they were done with the photo shoot, the girls went back to look in the mirror again. Emil helped Billy put the camera equipment away and then went back to the bathroom to eavesdrop on the girls. That means they planned to listen to what the girls were saying, even though they were not part of it. 

"That was fun," Mandy said, looking at herself in the mirror, "but it's a lot of trouble for everyday hair."

"Now let's wash it out," Veronika said. "Let's get our bathing suits back on!"

"Aren't you glad we have wigs and short hair?" Billy asked Emil.

"Yeah," Emil agreed. "I would hate to have to wear a mutant tarantula on my head for a week!"

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

Learn to braid your dolls' hair. You can start with grass. Here's how.

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Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"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 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

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Copyright © 2021, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

What Did You Get?

Emil thought Pippa looked sad. "What's the matter, Pippa," he asked.

"I didn't get the book I asked Santa for," she replied, hugging her bear.

"I think that's how it works, Pippa," Emil said. "I didn't get everything I asked for, either."

"Were you naughty?" Pippa wanted to know. 

"If I was, I didn't mean to be," Emil replied, as he sat down next to Pippa on the stair. "I mean, it's hard to be good all the time, and sometimes we do things we didn't know were wrong to do, but I really don't think Santa blames us for that."

"You mean being naughty is doing something on purpose you know is wrong?" Pippa asked.

"I'm no expert," said Emil thoughtfully. "I just think Santa is very kind and loves dolls as well as real children. I think he knows when we're doing our best. It must be hard to give every doll and every child everything they want, though."

"But why? If Santa can make all those toys and things, why wouldn't we get everything we asked Santa for?" Pippa persisted.

Emil thought about that. "Well," he said, "I don't know for sure, but here's what I think. Maybe another doll needs what you asked for more than you do or what you asked for won't work out with our family. It doesn't mean we were naughty if we don't get everything we asked for."

"Well," Pippa said with a sigh, "I do feel better now. I was afraid I didn't get the book because I was naughty, but I didn't know what I did that was wrong. I mean, I took one of the ornaments from the tree and played with it, but when The Writer told me they weren't toys, I put it back right where it was hanging on the tree."

"I don't think Santa would think that was very naughty," Emil said.

"I'm glad I wasn't naughty, but I'm still disappointed," Pippa explained, "because I really wanted to read that book."

"Maybe they have it in the library," Emil suggested. "We can look and see. If they have it, and if someone else doesn't have it checked out, we can go to the library when they open tomorrow and get it to bring home. Then you can keep it for a while. Come! I'll show you."

"We go to the library when it's open?" Pippa asked, as Emil led her down the stairs. "We check the book out? Where is it? I thought this was the library," she said, pointing to one of the bookcases as they walked by.

"That's our family's private library," Emil explained. "The library I'm talking about is the public library. It's a big building in town. It's full of books of all kinds. We can get you a library card. Maybe they have some other books you would like to check out, too. Then we will take them back by the date they are due. They have lots more books than we have here!" 

"What if I haven't finished it by the time I have to take it back?" Pippa asked.

"Then you can renew it," Emil said, "unless someone else has asked for it. You just let the library know you haven't finished it, and they let you keep it for another three weeks," he said. "We can look it up on the computer," he added pointing to the table where the laptop was open and turned on.

"Let's look now and see if they have it," Pippa begged.

Emil climbed up on a chair and Pippa handed her bear up to him so she would have her hands free to climb up herself.

The dolls found the computer and Emil checked to make sure The Writer wasn't working on something that could be messed up if he used the computer. She wasn't using the internet, so Emil looked up the library. When he found it, he turned to Pippa. "OK! What's the name of the book?" he asked her.

"It's called 'Alices Adventures in Wonderland,'" she said.

Emil typed in the title of the book. 

The picture on the screen changed. "They have several copies," Emil said. "One of them is checked out, but they have two others."

"Goodie!" exclaimed Pippa. "When can we go and get it?"

"Well," Emil said as he looked at the screen. "They're closed today, because it's a holiday, but they open tomorrow at noon. That's 12:00," he added, "like lunchtime. Maybe you can get The Writer to take you."

Pippa thought that was a good idea. She knew some books are heavy.

Just then, the two dolls heard what sounded like voices singing or humming...or both. The sound was coming from outside the front door. They left the computer and ran to the door. It was getting dark. The porch light was on.

When they opened the door, they found all the other dolls singing and humming a Christmas carol. Mariah and Charlotte were singing the words, because their mouths are open a bit. The other dolls were all humming, because their mouths don't open.

The dolls all stopped singing and humming. "Merry Christmas!" they cried. 

"Put on your coats and hats and come caroling with us!" Mariah said.

Caroling! What fun! Pippa decided it was a merry Christmas after all! 

The next day, Pippa went with The Writer to the library. The librarian––that's the person who is in charge of the library––gave Pippa a library card. Then they found a book that had all of the things Lewis Carroll had ever written, all in one book, including 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'!

The Writer allowed Pippa to keep the book at the bottom of the stairs, because the book was too big for a doll to lift. She planned to read every bit of it to her bear. She would try to finish it in three weeks!

Merry Christmas from Veronika and all the dolls in The Doll's Storybook!

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

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 Barnes & Noble in the US, and from Amazon worldwide. Also available 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 © 2020 by Peggy Stuart