Barbara Millicent Roberts was my best friend growing up.

You might know her by her nickname: Barbie.

My brothers were 11 and 15 when I was born -- so not exactly my willing playmates. When I was young, we moved around a lot in the outback of North Dakota, or what felt like the outback. This was the 1970s, an era before parent-led playdates. The television back then mostly gave me static and only sometimes a fuzzy version of "The Brady Bunch" or "Captain Kangaroo."

So, if I wanted entertainment in my life, my top choices were my Persian cat, Mimi; the little willow tree in the back yard; and Barbie.

Oh, Barbie and I had so much fun. Through my imagination, she went on adventures all over the world in her Beach Bus.

Philip Zoch of EMS Entertainment in Austria followed along last week to see the reactions of Sariah Smith, 6, Trinity Bowser, 7, and Mya Bowser, 9, as they
Philip Zoch of EMS Entertainment in Austria followed along last week to see the reactions of Sariah Smith, 6, Trinity Bowser, 7, and Mya Bowser, 9, as they got a sneak peek at the life-size Barbie Dreamhouse that opened on Valentine's Day at Mall of America. (Pioneer Press: Molly Guthrey)
These were soap operas with complicated narrative arcs, epic and multigenerational plots with a cast of supporting characters, including Skipper (the little sister), Darci (frenemy), Ken and G.I. Joe (love interests) and Grandma Barbie (with bouffant hairdo) and starring Diahann Carroll as Nurse Julia (providing all health care services, such as the reattachment of heads and limbs).

Later, we settled down in the big city of Fargo and I made friends in elementary school who had Barbie Dreamhouses. Together, we continued the story lines.

Although I saved up enough money to pay for half of Barbie's pink convertible (the other half subsidized by my parents), I could never save up enough money for that pink mansion with the elevator that really worked. Instead, my Barbie had to "make do" with a fold-up condo from the 1960s.

These days, I'm the one living in a condo. My girls' Barbies are more fortunate: They got a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Sadly, the house is dusty and its owners are not currently in residence; instead, they are packed away in a picnic basket. That's because my 5-year-old prefers to escape into the world of and my 9-year-old's favorite alternate universe is a place called Minecraft.

I first heard of Minecraft in 2012, when a friend told me what her fifth-grader wanted for a gift: "He says on Christmas morning, he wants to be sitting in his new beanbag chair, playing Minecraft on his new laptop." Big dreams. He didn't get the chair or the laptop.

But he did get that Minecraft video game. I assumed it was violent, because aren't all the most popular games? I was relieved when I found it was like playing with virtual Legos: The point is to build and create fantastical worlds, although kids can blow up stuff with TNT, like real miners.

Two years later, Minecraft is huge among kids everywhere. At the Scholastic book fair at my girls' elementary school last week, there was a waiting list for "Minecraft: The Official Handbook.

" The book, published last November, is sold out and on back order.

My 9-year-old tried to explain why the game is so popular:

"You can build witch castles in the sky, villages under the ground or farms on the ground," she said. "You can mine for diamonds, gold, lapis lazuli, coal and iron. You can play by yourself or you can play online with friends and they can also invite you into their worlds. Once, I got to visit an awesome jungle where houses were built on top of trees and there were torches everywhere. On the highest tree, I built a castle."

Hmmm. She sort of reminds me of a girl I used to know, a girl who used her imagination to escape into different worlds.

We might be using different methods -- an Xbox for her generation, a Barbie for mine -- but the most important thing is we both like pink.

This is why we are looking forward to touring the life-size Barbie Dreamhouse at the Mall of America.

I got to preview the pink confection while it was still under construction last week. I was there as a member of the media, but when three little girls who were also on the tour didn't know what to do when faced with Barbie's pink baby grand piano, I stepped in to get the party started. I may or may not have belted out the Barbie movie tune "It's a Perfect Christmas" using a fake pink microphone.

I cannot reveal more because my daughter is already, like, so embarrassed by me. Just wait until she sees the pink prom dress I plan to wear on our tour.
