I used to get so frustrated when my grandmother would tell me that I “could never be bored.”  She claimed, despite my protests, that there was always something to do if I just used my imagination.

At the time, I found her response to my cries of boredom to be annoying. But now, as I’ve aged, I appreciate the challenge she posed to me.  We live in a time when so much of what we encounter is automated and electronic. We expect to be entertained. Constantly.  Sometimes it’s good to step back, turn off all the gadgets, and just use our good ol’ imagination.

So today, I’d like to share a poem my grandmother wrote for me for Christmas when I was just one year old. I think you’ll enjoy the message, and hopefully it will inspire you to give gifts that encourage imagination.

The Doll Dilemma
By Pat Thurrell

I wandered about a toy shop.
It was quite a revelation.
The dolls galore that decked the store
Were not of my generation.

Nor were they those my own girls had,
Each with plain dress and rooted hair,
And blinking eyes and “Mama” cries,
And price tags usually fair.

The eager clerk who tailed my heels
Pointed virtues I might have missed.
Dolls drank and wet, spieled alphabet,
Turned somersaults and kissed.

Some recited nursery rhymes
Or said their prayers while kneeling.
You’d pull a string, they’d start to sing,
Shed tears instead of squealing.

I well could picture Christmas Day
With young girls so deluded.
For, dolls on tube would not have “lube”
With batteries excluded.

One had a beauty pageant shape,
Round fanny and ample bust.
Her garb’s extensive and expensive.
As bride, the groom’s a must!

Cribs and highchairs came with tots.
Older versions had home or car.
I said the clerk, who thought me a “jerk,”
“Haven’t toymakers gone too far?”

I want a doll that can’t do a thing.
A child should imagine, for fun.
She ought to play, with a doll her way,
For my granddaughter’s only one.