Strawberry Shortcake - The Nudist

As a kid, I grew up in the Ocean State. Ah, lil' Rhody with it's four hundred miles of beaches. Bet you didn't know that the smallest state in the country could boast so much coastline. We certainly had our pick of the beaches and of all those sandy strips my parents often chose the one that you actually had to strip at. That's right, a nude beach. Moonstone to be exact and I'm not trying to be funny.

Now a nature reserve for the piping plover or some such bird, Moonstone was a nude beach into the early 80's. As a small kid I didn't notice much of anything in the way of awkwardness I rather liked the whole no sand in the bathing britches factor and I was literally free to run around and play all day. Minus the fact that there were often few other children to play with it wasn't a bad beach. I would take my red backpack full of sand shovels, pails and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and follow my parents along the beach to the perfect blanket location. We'd set up for the day and I would take off whisking Shortcake, Huckleberry and Apple Dumpling off to exotic ocean side locales. Barbies were not for the beach but Strawberry went everywhere with me.

One day, as I sat on my parents blanket eating a sandy sandwich I realized something. Shortcake and company was missing! Where had she gone? My father piped in that she was probably by the shoreline where I had left her. I ran down to see only to discover that while Shortcake, Apple Dumpling and Huckleberry were all still sitting in the sand and basking in the sun, there clothes were no longer there. They had been washed out to sea! Gone. Forever. Not a trace of them was left behind. Not an apron, rubber shoe or poufy hat could be found. I was devastated. It was one thing for my parents and I to be naked, but it was quite another for Strawberry Shortcake.

While my mother bought replacement clothes they were never the same original outfits and the dolls never quite seemed the same to my anal-everything-must-be-right-self. From there on out I forever thought of Strawberry and friends as nudists.

For less traumatizing beach adventures check out PBN where you can read more stories and find out how to win a "Summer Fun Essentials Package"- a beach bag filled with summertime must-haves such as beach towels, pool toys, a sand castle building kit, and more! Plus, products from the Huggies® Little Swimmers® line.

**Lookie, lookie what one reader found- Poor Vintage Shortcake and Mint Shortcake.

What is Pink and Squishy and Family-Friendly? BARBAPAPA!

Sure you have your Cabbage Patch Kids, The Golden Books, your Strawberry Shortcake, throw in some Winnie the Pooh or Where the Wild Things Are and you have yourself many childhood favorites. All things many of us look back on with happy nostalgia. However, it was while I was visiting Paris during my pregnancy that I discovered a toy in a French department store that brought back much of my childhood to me. It was Barbapapa! I knew instantly I had to have him. Excited and in utter disbelief (this toy is still popular?!) I had him rung up at the register and brought him home to await the arrival of my daughter, T.D.

As a kid Saturday morning cartoons dawned early in my house. Barbapapa (the cartoon is based on a series of book by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor) started at 6 a.m. on some public television station. It's New England we received a lot of Canadian public television in the 70's and early 80's. It was my favorite cartoon and I couldn't think of anything better than bouncing along to the theme song in the darkened living room. The glow of the screen and the Barabapapa family was all I needed for the next hour or so.

When T.D. began to teethe I handed over this precious new Barabapapa. She gummed his soft squishy pink body and I happily began reading her all the books in the collection. I had saved them through numerous room purges from elementary school, high school and beyond. As I read the books to her now I began to notice just how much this pink blob and his colorful blobby children and wife shaped me. Barbapapas are all about innovative thinking, gentle manners and protecting the earth they live on. They solve problems using the talents each family members possesses, change shapes and have the most vivid and brilliant imaginations. I love reading the whole series of Barbapapa books with T.D. just as much as I loved having my Mom read them to me.

While my collection of Barbapapa books has grown ratty over the years(I've met only one other soul who remembers Barbapapa.) I still cherish them and hold them close to my heart. The bright illustrations of the Barbafamily building a home together, helping sick animals and creating a school for their community always remind me what is truly important in life. That sense of family, community building and celebrating everyones natural talents is what makes me, well, me. I love sharing it with my daughter and hope that despite all the scotch tape on the binding and pages the colors of the characters will still be bright enough to share with her children some day.



This post was brought to you by a PBN Blog Blast and Highlights Magazine (now in its 60th year!). It's all about sharing too! Visit the site (comment here too!) about what favorite things from your childhood you like sharing with your children and you could win a free subscription to Highlights new magazine, 'High Five'.

Barbapapa Lives!

On YouTube. Anyone else watch this show as a kid? It was on a Canadian channel when I was growing up in N.E. If I didn't have the books to prove it no one would believe me when I talk about this show. It was a favorite of mine and T.D. loves the books despite them being ratty and almost thirty years old.