signed, sealed, delivered: happy father's day!

I’m reaching back quite a few years here, but remember when Cabbage Patch Kids first came out? To put it mildly, they were hard to find as well as ridiculously expensive for the average consumer (the category in which my family could be placed).

I had never had a doll collection, but oh how I longed for a Cabbage Patch. The dimples, the belly buttons, the signature on the bum?

Come on! How could you resist?

I did eventually get my fair share of these little ones once demand and prices dropped—my official Kids were named Alden Hermann, Dyann Sabrina, and the preemie, Yeti Kira (why, oh why do I remember these names?), but before them, there was Patty.

Yeah, just “Patty” so that should tell you right there that she didn’t have the seal of approval from BabyLand General. Her face shape, red hair, green eyes, and dimples actually made her look pretty close to the real thing (a "real" Patty twin above), but then there was the small matter of her digits. Patty didn’t have individual toes and fingers as my grandmother had just sewn her limbs into kind of pointy tips, but I didn’t care. Mam Mam also made all of Patty’s clothes for a while, so it was kind of an overall look we were going for obviously.

But you know what Patty did have? Adoption papers. Oh yes, just like her Patch brother and sisters, Patty had very official looking documents listing our names, address, the date, her footprints, and even witnesses.

This was all my dad’s idea. He was a Notary Public at the time, so he was used to all the stamping and witnessing. I’m not sure why he would’ve known that real Cabbage Patch Kids had adoption papers, but this was a huge hit with my 7-year-old self.

I remember waiting impatiently for him to peck out the required information on the old typewriter—this was even before my dad got his first Apple—and then as we signed form after form, and finally as he put the official seal on everything.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

And Patty was mine.

I didn’t truly appreciate the effort at the time, but looking back, what a thoughtful, creative, fun, and special thing to do. That little taste of bureaucracy made me feel like a real mommy, a real caretaker, a real person, and most importantly, loved and important.

I can only hope that if/when I’m a parent, I can remember to do those small things too, to every now and again experience life from a child’s viewpoint and figure out what will make him/her feel important and loved; maybe it doesn’t seem so in the moment, but memories are made among the small things.

So, Dad, thank you for the small things as well as the big things, and
Happy Father’s Day to you and all daddies everywhere!*

Ah, and to avoid having a Father's Day post have only
a photo of a Cabbage Patch doll, cute as she is...
how ‘bout them Blue Devils?