The Naked Barbies

July 21, 2012.


There was a bagyo (storm) that day.


The kids woke me up so early even though it was a Saturday. I had forgotten that their idea of a well spent Saturday was waking up early so they had more hours to play. No amount of explaining that I had slept at 2AM that morning would make them stop bugging me to wake up. I tried sleeping in the living room, but Ada and Téa followed me to the sala and started singing Firework. I decided to eat breakfast and told them that if I passed out on the floor not to wake me up. After breakfast, they somehow forgot to bug me, but I had already gotten over my lack of sleep. 


I remembered that a few days before that rainy Saturday, I was forced to play with naked Barbie dolls. Téa did not seem to mind that the Barbies we were playing with were all naked. But I found them so disturbing! The whole time I was playing with her, my mind kept saying, 'Cover up their freaking bodies!' I guess I am used to seeing Barbies with clothes and the only dolls that are fine when naked are real dolls. But Barbies? They look disturbing when they don't have clothes on.  They look like they just had sex or they just came out of their bath. My brain kept thinking, 'How gross is that? Téa looks like she's playing with a Barbie that just had sex with Ken.' What a thought. 

My friend's dad, Tito Mar, saw my post earlier that week on Facebook and suggested that I cover up the Barbies by putting band aids on them or by wrapping them in plastic. And I kinda did that. I went around the house looking for any kind of plastic I could use. I begged the yayas to give me old plastic bags that were clean. I grabbed the kitchen scissors and went to work on the floor of the TV room. My original plan was to just make one dress for the Barbie that Ada and  Téa  let me use. I had no intention of making plastic dresses for the other Barbies. But then, the kids saw what I was doing.

Ada: 'Uhm, what's that Tita Anna?'   

Me: 'Am making a plastic dress for my Barbie.' 

Téa: 'Let me get my Barbie. You have to make one for her too.' 

Ada: 'Mine also! She needs clothes too! Wait!'

And that is how I ended up making three plastic dresses. 

Boy, was it ever tedious! Cutting little strips of plastic, making sure the plastic stays in place and getting the plastic to cooperate with the design in my head took up so much time. Every five minutes, the girls would come by to ask me if I was done with the dresses for the Barbies. And I would be like, 'I just started! Come back later.' They would forget about it for some time, but when they remembered they were back to bugging me to work faster. The yayas thought that it was the most brilliant thing! Yaya Cora kept on checking up on me to bring me more colored plastic. I had to tell her to stop bringing me plastic because I was drowning in supplies. The news about me making plastic dresses for the Barbie dolls reached the bedroom where my Manong and Manang were. Manang Rina came out and was like, 'Anna, that is so funny!'


It was so funny! I spent half a day making three plastic dresses. I was so dizzy by the time I finished making those dresses. Ada and Téa decided to have a Barbie fashion show. I made the stupid mistake of saying, 'But only three Barbie dolls have plastic dressed. What will the others wear?' I am now commissioned to make more plastic dresses for the other Barbies until my friend Jani can hopefully find her stash of Barbie clothes. Ada and Téa promise that if I make more clothes for their Barbies they will repay my kindness with lots of kisses and hugs. Sounds like a good bargain!