Paper Dolls - Making connections with my daughter

My daughter is quite upset whenever she loses her baby teeth. To coax her, I invented a reward program that she will get a present for every lost tooth. I feel that this way is better than the tooth fairy story which a little babyish and contradicts to our beliefs.

She lost a tooth last week. Due to my tight schedule, I had not been able to fulfill my promise (she had been bugging me ever since) until today. So We I was excited when I saw paper dolls in Subang Parade flea market. I can't believe they are still around. I told my daughter that I used to play with them a lot when I was little. That was really one of the few treats which my parents could afford for me. I told my daughter that my friends and I used to write a cross (x) behind the dolls' necks as we believed that they would come alive at night if otherwise. 'That's so silly', she said.

The paper was quite thin so after a while the necks would get flimsy and bent. I used to fix them with cellophane tape! The paper doll used to cost about 50 cents each, I think. Today it is sold for RM1 each, which is not bad. I bought 4 pieces for my daughter. That is a really cheap losing tooth present. Daughter and mother are happy. At home, while helping her cutting the dolls out of the paper, my husband said 'you bought that so that you could play, didn't you?'. Nostalgia... de javu...

Vintage paper doll.

I didn't know they have man dolls.

Sources:
Image 2: clinical with a dash of idealism
Image 3: black watch