A while ago I posted about my eldest’s Dolly Entourage.

I also posted about my love for Headless Lalaloopsy from the moment I first found her.

She continues to make me smile every time I come across her.

Because we discard no dolls here.

She reminds me that even when faced with certain challenges, you can survive.

Well, March through May are rough months chez Baby Gates Down. Both the husband and I have work tied to the Parliamentary calendar and this is the period that just endlessly GOES. Combine that with two kids; colds; school issues; husband on late shift; short a staff at work; and throw in the odd parking ticket or having to figure out how to download my T4 from the simple new online work system when work blocks the necessary java script to do so and I’m one challenge away from losing my Goldfish.

But work hard; play hard.

And all that.

Right?

In that vein, I thought I’d pay homage to some of the most loved; just won’t quit dollies over here.

You may remember my previously introducing these main players in the Dolly Posse:

Tink and all her Fairy Friends joined our family as a unit on Christmas Day 2012 as part of the Flowers Collection – in 39 fun pieces including detachable shoes, wings and (WTF) separate wing holders.

All that to say, they long ago morphed into six barefoot coloured dolls in bathing suits. From left to right: Iridessa, Fawn, Silvermist, Tink, Rosetta and Vidia.

Where are they now, you ask? Here’s Vidia!

I discovered early on with these dolls that it all depends on how exactly the head pops off.

Fawn, as an example, was loved above all over fairies, and so lost her head first. But we can still squish hers back on happily due to how it broke.

Vidia here? Lost cause without crazy glue.

This happened about two weeks ago and we’ve magically managed to lose neither head nor body.

Next, may she rest in pieces: Tinkerbell!

So loved was she, that when she broke at the gym playcare on Monday and I told my daughter that she was like Vidia and so I couldn’t easily fix her, she was left in the car upon our return home and I had to trek outside to take this photo.

Five-year-old affection is fickle I tell you.

That said, my daughter did confer with grandpa at Easter dinner last night as to whether he had any crazy glue, so I’m satisfied she’s not a psychopath.

Now giving a shout-out to the smaller dollies of Team Figurine, I give you Headless Jasmine!

We’re not even big Aladdin fans here, but obviously someone loved this one enough to bequeath the attention required to lose her head.

My eldest got these little figurines along with a boxed storybook for her third birthday from one of my girlfriends.

She recently gifted the storybook to my youngest, which I figure was either “nice” or her version of “cleaning her room.”

Speaking of my youngest – currently a few months shy of 3-years-old – may I present one of her first dollies: Dollar Store Draculaura!

She’s a … poignant example of “you get what you pay for”.

Under the loving care of my youngest her leg remained attached for approximately 36 hours after purchase.

Then? Yeah, there’s no fixing that.

That said, for three dollars a piece, the store has a lovely faux Monster High Doll line. My eldest’s Dollar Store Clawdeen Wolf is still going strong.

So that brings us to the end of the Recently Injured Dolly List. The fact that my daughters still happily play with all of them is a wonderful reminder that even when things are a bit broken, it ain’t over. And honestly? They just incorporate it into play. Missing a leg or a head is NO REASON to flake out on saving Barbie from the sea monster. That shit’s still gotta get done.

Spring Cleaning this weekend was also a good reminder that it isn’t just headless and limbless dollies out there in need. Other dollies are missing stuff too. Here’s an example of some of the random flotsam and jetsam collected and still without home after HOURS of cleaning.

Aside from collecting such photos and publishing an I Spy book I’m at a bit of a loss about what to do about my growing collection of such missing pieces.

What about you? What do you do with the broken toys and random missing and collected toy parts chez vous?