THW 3TC December 16

When my husband visited Russia a few years ago, he brought back a set of Russian Nesting Dolls , also called Babushka dolls. They were a pretty blue color with a pattern of white snowflakes painted on the dress. They got a place of honor in the display cabinet and I kept them free of dust by careful cleaning.

Sometime that year, a nephew of my husband visited us with his family, which had a young boy of three along with older two kids. We were busy entertaining them and didn’t notice that the young boy had managed to open the display cabinet, and had one of the tiny dolls firmly grasped in his little hand. When the boy’s mom noticed it, she asked him to put the doll back. Now, if you have seen these type of dolls, you would know that the bigger ones are quite pretty but it’s the smaller ones which are the cutest and attracted the attention of kids because of their size and cuteness.

All the attempts of the mom to convince the boy to unhand the doll failed and it ended up in angry tears and a tantrum. This was an embarrassing situation for our guests and for us too. If we would suggest that the boy should be allowed to keep the doll, it would be unacceptable for the mom and her attempt to make him give the doll back were increasingly upsetting him.

It was my younger daughter who cam up with a gem of an idea! She went and brought back a teddy bear she had from her own childhood days. When she offered the crying child the cuddly teddy bear, he thankfully stopped his crying and dropped the doll to clutch at the offered bear. And a social disaster was everted!

From that day the dolls have been shifted to the top most shelf of the cabinet where they are out of sight of small bratty kids!

Written for THW3TC


Russian nested dolls, snowflake, tears



24 thoughts on “THW 3TC December 16

  1. Yes, the toddlers…gotta love their fixation on things that are not their own. My 3 yo is notorious for “mine” especially when toys are involved (he figures of I’m playing with it, I can take it) and we are exhausted.
    I’m glad your daughter thought of a quick fix to an almost nuclear meltdown. I too, like those nesting dolls, they’re adorable. I remember seeing an episode of Amazing Race where they had to do a challenge with nesting dolls and it got bananas!

    Even though parents are used to kids having tantrums, why is it we get so embarrassed when it happens? It happens all the time, it’s even expected. I think it gets more embarrassing when the parents ignore the blowup instead of trying to correct it, IMO. I rather you correct it then to act like it’s not happening.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It is embarrassing for the parents if it’s in someone else’s house. I used to get flustered too when my kids would act up away from home. Now that I am a grandma, I don’t mind it at all. My youngest is a peacemaker. She does manages to pour oil over troubled waters.

      Liked by 1 person

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