Jill Krause

My daughter was supposed to grow up and play with wooden dolls and handmade toys. She was supposed to make fairy gardens outside while wearing butterfly wings I would purchase from Etsy.

My daughter was “supposed” to be a lot of things that she isn’t, a lot of things she has no desire to ever be. I love her for that as much as I hate myself for thinking she’d be anything different, for thinking she’d be anything at all — for having preconceived notions about what her likes and dislikes would be.

And, just like my child before her and the one after (and surely the one after that), she was sent here to show me that what I thought I wanted for my children prior to actually having them versus what our reality is now are often two very different things.

She prefers zombies over fairies, and I don’t even waste my money on baby dolls. They absolutely bore her. She’d prefer to dress up as a dragon instead of a butterfly.

She’s not anti-girly. She came home from a playdate today with pink eyeshadow from her eyebrows down to her cheeks. She’s just…her own girl.

And she loves playing with Monster High dolls. Oh yeah, five-years-ago-me is dying.

But the thing is, she will actually, like, play with them — these girly, edgy, freaky-fab dolls. She will sit in her room for an hour, just doing what kids do with dolls, I guess. It’s a refreshing change from her incessant requests to watch videos of other kids playing video games. It’s honestly kind of surprising to me. I thought that type of imaginative play wasn’t really her thing.

I think, though, she never really connected with the toys she had — all those wooden dolls I bought for her wooden doll house. Ha!

You should hear her. Imagine this conversation, one doll in each hand, high-pitched voices:

“So are you a vampire, or a zombie?”

“I’m a bat! Duh! Time to go to science class. And then I’m going to sleep. Upside down! Because that’s what bats do.”

Followed by mischievous laughter.

The girl who loves to play Minecraft and Plants vs. Zombies with the boys has found her doll soulmates, and those dolls love going to science class. Be still my thawed heart!

Funny that the heart of the Monster High message is acceptance, and that it encourages kids to embrace and celebrate what makes everyone different. I think there’s so much still for me to learn when it comes to accepting Leyna for who she is and who she will become. We’ll figure this out together.

At Monster High, students embrace and celebrate what makes them different. It’s a place where everyone is welcome and everyone belongs. Shop here for fangtastic Monster High products.