On the bright side, if they provided a feminist lesson for Julia, just think what they can do for Evan

I thought I'd dodged a bullet on the Barbie thing. After her initially enthusiastic introduction to the dolls, Julia completely lost interest in all things Barbie soon after she turned 3. Her sole Barbie has languished on a shelf for over a year now, with no one to paint her toenails or help her select careerwear, and I can't say I've been all too upset about that turn of events.

Granted, I'd be more pleased with the situation had Julia not fixated instead on Polly Pockets, which are really no better (and potentially worse, since there is not a single outfit in the 450 little plastic pieces of Polly apparel we now own that any of those dolls could wear on a job interview). I know it's all the same crap, really. But Barbie's got years of bad PR working against her, and I must admit that I was still feeling a little bit smug about the fact that we apparently weren't going to be a Barbie household.

As usual, I counted my chickens too soon.

Evan and I went to the toy store last week while Julia was at school to pick up a birthday gift for one of her friends. I grabbed a random assortment of Pollies and accessories off the shelf and headed for the cash register, only to realize that Evan was no longer at my side. I turned around and there was my son, reverently selecting one Barbie at a time off the shelf, kissing each doll and then gently placing each one back where he'd found it. "Let's go, Ev," I encouraged. "No, more," he replied, clearly determined to give every doll in the store her due share of love. "Please, Evan," I begged. "We have more errands to do today." He stubbornly refused to move. Despite my best efforts to woo him away, he spent the better part of the next half hour engaged in a Barbie lovefest the likes of which his sister has never seen or contemplated.

We eventually managed to get out of the store without purchasing any Barbies. After Evan had kissed each one reverently, he was more than willing to leave them behind. But I've never seen that look in his eye before, and he's certainly never shown quite that much love to a Thomas train. It would appear that we just might end up being a Barbie household after all. It figures.