"But its just a doll.."

I have kids and pets. Dolls are neither. They are wonderful, plastic resin toys. They are an excuse to sew, knit , crochet and otherwise make tiny things. They are a great reason to learn photography. They are fun and relaxing, they combine other hobbies I enjoy into one, but at the end of the day, they are just toys.

 

i refer to my dolls as my children, but i treat them more like friends. probably because i don't have any friends in real life and it's nice to have someone to talk to.

 

Some people are comfortable calling their dolls and treating their dolls as children. But Im sure deep down we all know they are just very beautiful toys. I refer to mine as my "brood", or "little horde" XD My mom did call my first that I got my "baby doll", but that was as close as it would ever get. I like to think of them more as companions, I treat my dog more like my baby then anything since he is a living thing. I do baby my dolls, but they arent my childern, Id prefer to have real childern some day.

So mine are beautiful little comanion toys that drive me nuts and eat all my money. Lol

 

I do not see them as my "children", like you I just find them so artistically great and it will help me a lot in drawing proportionataly =D
They also make me spend, sew, knit, make photos, etc... which I find is really great =D

But when I talk about them, it can really seem as if I think of them as my kids.... Its just a way of talking about them =3

I think they are about at the same level as my cactus, I take care of them only when I feel the need to, and when I do I do it as if they were really alive and feeling what I do =P

 

They are just dolls, but it's very easy to get attached to them. The only parts I have of my first doll right now are the eyes and wig, and I love stroking the wig, kind of like I stroke my dog's fur xD
They force me to make them clothes, as most clothes are way too expensive. I've revived my hobbies of knitting, sewing, crocheting, and I plan to use my dolls as pose models for drawing.
So, I guess I don't know how I'll treat my dolls yet, but they aren't alive, but do need taking care of. So I guess I'll know when I get them

 

This is an interesting topic. Once at a convention someone asked to look at my sister's doll that I was holding and they asked in a strange way (to me anyway) "can I see your baby?" It struck me as weird at first, cuz I never thought to consider Shauden as a part of the family in that manner.

I think that even when I get my own, I won't consider it my child or anything, but he will definitely keep me a little company for when I move off to go to University.

But I also see them as artistic. Many people find a new hobby through them. Not just collecting them, I mean more like taking photos of them, making clothing for them, jewelry, and that kind of things. You can use your imagination with your dolls and mold them into a character you wish them to be. For me, my dol will be more like a model for the stuff I make for them.

 

Umm I got Sarang when I was 15-16, so it would be really hard to think of her as my daughter, since I got her when I was pretty much still just a kid myself... I guess I "kind of" do - in that I want to protect her etc... But I think she's more like a friend who will always be there for me, and keep me company. So she's a projection of my imagination, my "child", companion, and... So much more~ ^^;;;;

 

I already have a 2 year old son who is insatiably hard to take care of...specially with his new found personal freedom, with that said I believe they are more of an artistic expression of one's self rather than a child. The thing about them is they don't speak or move unless you move them. They are beautiful and I love them, but I would give them up if I really needed to, my son however I wouldn't give him up for the life of me.

This is just my opinion and please no offense if you do love these beautiful dolls and treat them as your child.

 

I second all of this, though I don't have my own BJD yet

I basically want one to use as reference for drawing, and to sew cute little stuff on! I cosplay so sewing practice is always good ^_^

It would definitely not be my child, but a character, and all of my characters are special to me xD

 

Sure, I refer to them all as my "brainchildren" and I know I have a very deep bond with a choice few of them..but it's moreso a bond with their character than the actual doll itself. Don't get me wrong, I adore my dolls and maybe with close friends or my sister I'll joke around and call them my babies, but it's really no different than how I call any of my dogs my babies either. Yes I love them and love to spoil them and they are extemelely important to me, but I've never been personally comfortable as thinking of them as my kids, seeing as I really just don't think I'm the mothering type.

Only once when my dad was showing off my boys ( oh yes, I will call them 'my boys', but I'm pretty sure there are plenty others out there who do the same as well ) to one of his friends who had come to visit did he refer to them as 'her babies', and even when he said that, although I know he's rather fond of them and meant it in an entirely positive way, I still felt uncomfortable with it. Mostly with the idea that people I barely know will think I actually think of my dolls as my children is just a little unsettling.

 

I joke about my three being my "kids"-- in fact, my mother came over to my house recently, and I showed her Elias, and after a few less than stellar comments from her, she turned to leave, she turned back and waved to my dolls and said, "Bye children!"

I'm a bit of a smart-mouth, so I responded with, "Say good bye to Grand-mama, kids!"

I don't treat my dolls like kids, but I do take meticulous care of them. And if anything happened to them, I'd bug out. But saying "But it's just a doll..." would be just as demeaning if I said to someone who lost their prize-winning collection, "But it's just a stamp collection..." Granted, I wouldn't by a pram to push my dolls in for daily walks to the park, but I treat them as very precious entities to me.

 

I don't consider mine my kids at all - first off they're adults, and second, well, they're dolls! The characters (and thus the dolls) are precious to me, but they're not my kids. My dad calls them my babies, but it's more in a cute way than anything else, and he knows I don't really think of them as babies. It probably came from his mother, who had a doll she called her baby and would call our dolls babies when we were children. An older friend of ours once told my sister to be a good aunt to them, too, but I thought that was pretty funny.

My mom apparently has grand-cats and grand-dolls, but no grandchildren yet, LOL!

 

They sortof have 2 parts to love. I love the doll aspect with the faceups and clothes but i also love the characters. >w<

 

I don't equate mine to kids at all-- closer to, as a few people have mentioned, Sims. I like them, and I like customizing them and picking out clothes and all that. My problem, however, is that my mother gets a very accusatory attitude about it, asking if everything I do that is not children, so my cat, my two rabbits, and my dolls, is "supposed to be her grandchildren "? This is a point of contention because I, personally, don't want kids, so I kind of resent being told that everything I do is some sort of compensation for that.

 

I don't see them as children either. I didn't even see them as anything more than sculpted works of art to photograph until I really tried hard to find personality in them. Now I kind of get a feeling that I see them as more "alive" when I sit on the couch with them on my lap or something like that. Still not going for the "children" thing, though.

 

Me too... *LOL*

My dolls are... my dolls. I don't exactly play with them; but I enjoy making photo stories (is that playing? Well - I guess it is - sort of...).

They're not my children - I have 3 (26, 18 and 17 - so I don't need more children) and they're not my pets (I've had a couple and they all died young because of disease - so I don't want more pets) - they're dolls. Beautiful little creatures that I love - sort of. Not like I love my children; but much more than I love a steak...

If one of them should fall down and get hurt I would probably cry.... At least for a little while. Mostly because of the amount of money I've spend on them, though... Narh - that was a bit too harsh.

I haven't had them for long - got both of them in February this year; but if I should loose one of them I would really miss them. I'm totally aware that they're just dolls - still they mean a lot to me as I'm ill and in bed most of the time. They do - sort of - keep me company just by being present. My mood has been a lot better since I got them - so - they're not 'just' dolls to me... Absolutely not... And for each day they mean more to me; but they'll never be my children.

 

I don't really think of them as children. At the same time, I'm not much for playing or photostories, but I think they're beautiful pieces of art. I guess I'm more a collector.

 

Nikky is constantly called "my baby" "my boy" "my kid" etc. But... he's a piece of art, not a child. I know this. xD (Though some people think I have a baby when I talk about him. Oi...)

But I think of him more as a customizable piece of artwork, really. *shrug* An a character broght to life. ^^ He's like my cosplays. Someting that is mine, has a little bit of me in it, and is one-of-a-kind. I love art.

 

As many have said before me, I guess Noah is more of a companion or a pet. He sits with me while I sew clothes for him, while I'm on the computer, and I bring him certain places where I know he won't get dirty or get messed with.

The beautiful thing about these dolls is that each one of them has their own personality waiting to emerge. It never fails to amaze me that two people can have the same sculpt and have two totally different dolls with two totally different personalities. They are an expression of creativity and art, but they also become like a good friend.

I originally got Noah to get better at my photography, but like I said, he's become more like a companion. It's the way I can get him to pose, the way he looks like he's smiling at me when his head tilts a certain way, etc. I could go on forever. XD

Oh dear lord, I've become the dolly version of the crazy cat lady. @_@ And I only have one! *dies*

 

I see mine as a piece of art and a good outlit to make art with. I think they take on personalities to some extent (like I'd never dress my doll up flamboyant, happy clothes) but I don't think of them as children at all.

The closest thing I've come to making it seem like an actual person is at a doll meet this weekend, I told my sister "Oh, Yeon's jealous now, you're not holding him."

That's as far as I go though. Just stupid sentences.