AngieBelle!

I can absolutely empathize with you. Thank you for bringing up the subject. I was afraid to. This may turn into the longest post in history, so bear with me. This has been on my mind so much lately! If this is too much for this board, please moderators, feel free to delete it. There is a positive ending, really! Somehow I feel maybe there are others that feel this way, so, maybe this will help someone else. This is scary for me to be honest about, so *DEEP BREATH* here goes:

My daughter has not even turned one (I started collecting when she was born) and I have 17 dolls, nearly an outfit for each season for each doll plus some, and plenty of accessories to boot. I feel greedy and horrible for this over-indulgence. It has not impeded finances or needs in any way, but I feel ashamed just for having it.

What's worse is, I dislike the person I've become because of it. I do not blame this on AG, or their retirement schemes, or anything. Fact is, (and I may get crucified here for saying so) but I think they are only doing what is sensible for all practical business purposes by retiring items that do not sell well. No business no matter how large or small is out to take losses, all ethics aside. And the way they retire items to incite a mad rush is quite genius from a business perspective.

I am only speaking for myself and certainly not anyone else, so please do not anyone take this as a generality. I dislike that I get frenzied and frantic when items retire. I dislike that I have accumulated so much stuff in so short a time that it isn't even enjoyable anymore. When I get a new box, I don't even go look at it right away. I get to it at some point in the evening. I mull over the new things for a while, then they go to storage or display, and that's about it. I dislike that I have dolls that have had their clothes changed maybe once, and then they sit there untouched for another season. I dislike that I'm to afraid to take down #21's hair for fear I'll lose her pin curls or to touch #26's hair for fear I'll frizz it. I dislike that I spend so much time hovering over eBay watching for good deals. I dislike that my son wants my attention and I say to him "just a minute, just a minute" while I write on this board. I just don't like what I've become over it, and I can't blame anyone but myself. Not AG, not retirements, just me. I feel like I have been reduced to the pursuit of the accumulation of material items, and this is a very sad realization. I often times wonder, If I had a complete collection, would I be satisfied? Probably not. I'd probably sit around wondering what I'm supposed to do next!

I have spoken to my husband about a million times about selling the whole collection to get myself back to a healthier state. Hubby won't let me, and deep down, I'm grateful to him for that. Do not misunderstand, I DO love my girls. I love just being surrounded by them, even though I don't have much time to play with them. We all love looking at them, and they have become part of the family.

Hubby is trying to help me find the joy and fun with the girls, rather than getting bogged down with accumulation. He is being very very supportive! Here are some things I've/we've done to get to a better state:

1) I am not rushing out to order the next retirements and make myself broke in the process. If I get to them, fine, if not, fine.

2) Hubby and I have started looking for NON-AG accessories. This has been so fun, and brought a lot of enjoyment to our collection. Everytime we go anywhere we have a little hunt for AG-sized things. This weekend we found a doll-sized flowerpress, rolling pin, cookie cutters, windchime, cards, Coke bottles, and dice! We love adding these little things to our girls scenes, and I have really enjoyed it. I have also started looking and buying non-AG clothes, and this has been fun, too!

3) I'm gearing up to start learning new crafts like sewing for my girls!

4) I'm setting aside time to change my girls clothes much more often, move them around, and start picture albums as many of you have done.

All this has really brightened my perspective, and my enjoyment, my feelings for my girls, and myself! I'm feeling as though I can collect to have fun, not just collect to have! I think it took me to branch AWAY from AG to find the brighter spot IN AG. In fact, I'll be introducing my new non-AG girl soon!

Thanks so much for listening, I feel 1000% better just getting this off my chest! If there is others who have felt this way, I'd love to hear your stories, and how you are dealing with it! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Dani