About Josefina

For those of you who do not know, this is Josefina's second hospital trip. The first time, her arm fell off in 2005 and it took a month to build up the courage to send her away for two and a half weeks. This time, her leg fell off and well, let's just say she's super-de-duper loved. (Have you seen her hair? Oy.)

How many of you have dolls that need a bit of fixing, but you are too scared to send them in.... or too nervous... or just simply don't want to part with them? Well, you aren't the only one. Sarah (Stephenswodadancer) has the same problem. Her doll Deziree has a retracted eyelash. That is when the entire eyelash on the doll's eyeball slides back into the little slit where they were supposed to be permanently attached. American Girl counts this as a factory defect and will replace the affected eye for free. And most of you know that Sarah has her own doll hospital, but I don't think she's been able to fix Deziree's retracted eyelash. She's said before that she just doesn't want to part with Deziree... like many of you can't part with your dolls. Heck, Josefina's leg fell off in 2007 and it's taken this long just for me to send her in!

But for me, the reason that I finally sent in my doll, is to think of the issue from their perspective. I mean, yes, dolls cannot think like real people, but to me and many of you, they are considered as our daughters, best friends, sisters, etc. How would your daughter like it if she was missing her arm? How would your sister feel if her eyelashes were gone? What would your best friend say if she had a rip in her belly? I would think that they would suffer. Now picture that as your doll suffering. Most girls don't want to picture that, but it's hard even picturing them in the state they're in.

Two weeks may seem like an unbearably long time, especially if she's your only doll. But part of having your American Girl doll is the responsibility of caring for her. Sure, she may be just a vinyl doll, but she's much prettier when her hair is brushed and shiny, when her skin is clean and unsmudged. Also, mothers send their babies off to hospitals all the time. When children have surgeries or special treatments, they may have to stay in the hospital for a year. Now compare a year without your doll, to two weeks. That doesn't seem long at all anymore, does it?

Please, if your doll needs it, send in your doll to Sarah's Doll Hospital in Missouri, or the official American Girl Hospital in Wisconsin. And on Sarah's website, she features before-and-after pictures of dolls she's helped. Once my Josefina returns, I'll show you guys who have been following this blog her before-and-after pictures. You'll truly be amazed.