Princess Eggs
My most prized childhood possession was Princess Eggs. Princess Eggs was a pale-yellow beanie baby with an embroidered pink Easter egg on her chest, and I loved her to pieces. She was a baby shower gift from a family friend, and quite possibly the first thing that actually belonged to me. Perhaps this is why she was my favorite – I accumulated a multitude of different beanie babies throughout my toddlerhood (they were all the rage in Korea back then), but Eggs always remained number one. She was the center of all my play-stories, and her list of titles and accolades only grew (in both length and absurdity) as I grew older.
Eggs started off as just a simple bear princess of a vaguely defined stuffed animal kingdom. She lived in a mountainous, cave-filled region (made up of the covers on my bed) which wasn’t very glamorous, but it was sufficiently safe against the frequent snowstorms they had in that area. She and her two sisters, Ariel the Blue Bear and Nikki the Fuzzy Squirrel, went on many camping adventures together (most of which consisted of me changing the blanket-mountain terrain a little, and knocking all the other toys off of the bed). Besides having fun on camping trips, Eggs’ main duty was to protect her small kingdom (population about 7 toys) from snowstorms by finding tunnels in the caves, and from the occasional thunderstorms by building her famous umbrella-boat. These storylines basically repeated themselves until I started watching Barbie movies, at which point my knowledge of heroism and Mary-Sue-ish-ness was much expanded.
By the time she and I reached age 7, Eggs (now short for Eggsalina) was the crown princess of the far-reaching Bear Empire/Queendom (with an “army” and “colonies” to match), as well as a light-manipulating superhero and a mega-famous pop star. She and her sisters now resided in resplendent Bear Square (the capital of the Bear Empire), which was now a complex of cardboard-box palaces that spanned my whole room instead of just my bed. Her mother, Queen Bella, was a powerful weather manipulator, and her father, King Consort Whitebear, was a former prince from the neighboring Snow Queendom. Their reign was a mainly prosperous one (free healthcare and guaranteed housing!), but they still had the occasional snowstorm, in which case Eggs and her family would use her powers to guard the residences of their people. Eggs would now also go on tour, lead her armies into battle, and raise the sun over her empire every morning. All in a day’s work, right?
I think a lot of people have a special fondness for their childhood toys, even after they grow much too old to play with them (especially if you’ve watched Toy Story). I definitely still love Eggs to pieces. We grew up together, in a way, acting out all my little fantasies and daydreams, the elaborateness of her life mirroring the growing complications in mine. Whenever I look at her, I’m reminded of all the fun we had, all the aliens we fought, all the “people” we saved. More than just nostalgia, though, she represents to me my growth in storytelling; she’s a projection of where and who I’ve been, and how far I’ve come since my days of mountain-making and umbrella-boating. Remembering the stories I placed her in helps me remember my younger self. I owe a lot to this stuffed animal, strangely enough - she helped me grow up, and reminds me of who I used to be.
I really enjoyed reading this post, it reminds me of the innocence and imagination that all kids have and how they can turn something simple into a whole storyline! I like how you described her as growing with you, as though she isn’t a possession but truly a friend. I remember having a certain stuffed animal that I could not leave the house without as a kid and remember how much it meant to me. It's interesting how we all have that one thing that seems like an ordinary thing to others but means the world to us.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post! I liked how you talked about your childhood toy princess eggs. Reading about the world you created for her. How she grew from a princess to crown princess of her queendom. I remember having dolls that I would play with for hours. I was always inventing new stories for them or building on the ones I already had.
ReplyDeleteI love this because I think as we get older, we become ashamed or embarrassed of our childhood games and fantasies. You told this story so unabashedly, which took courage, yet we can all see ourselves and our childhoods in this story. I love how relatable this is - a beloved childhood toy that was played with so many times that you can't bear to get rid of it. I am a very sentimental person so this really resonated with me and also made me want to revisit my childhood toys and memories.
ReplyDeleteThis is so wholesome. Personally, I am rather embarrassed of the American Girl Doll phase that I went through in elementary school, but very impressed with you for being able to feel so much fondness for your childhood obsessions. I especially like how you said, "By the time she and I reached age 7" because it sounds like you and Eggs are growing up together. I wonder where she's going to college.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the title, honestly thought Princess eggs was some kind of toy that you would collect, kind of like Pokemon cards . I loved the way you expressed your imagination in this essay, the way you would play with Princess Eggs as a child. I think that mainly when we get older we realize that the world is much different than we imagined as children and we become loaded with so many unnecessary responsibilities that there is no longer time to play anymore.
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