How does your family react to the hobby ?

I live together with my brother. He doesn't really care about my hobbys. When he first saw my doll, he said: "Oh, is that Barbie?" Eh ... Maybe to him, every doll with blonde hair is Barbie. He sometimes makes fun of things I like, but I do the same xD That's a typical siblings relationship. When I told my stepmother that I bought a BJD, she thought of it as a cute hobby, better spending money on unique dolls than on other things, people normally do at my age ... 'D So, they are really open to it, no one thinks I'm crazy xD

 

they dont really care. So long as I pay for them myself, they dont think much of it. My parents know I'm responsible and that I'm not going to run myself into debt.

lol, actually, the other day a big box came in and I was carrying it in, and my dad goes "Uh oh, another doll! Someone's going to be broke!"

It's kind of become a running joke in my family. But I'm 23 years old, my parents can't really tell me what to and not to do with my money. But they taught me responsibility at a young age. Despite having a wealthy family, my parents came from nothing, themselves. So they taught me how to save for the things I wanted, while still being able to spend money on the things I needed. My dolls are a luxury that I am thankful I can afford. So, as long as I'm not going to them begging for help with my credit card bill because I just bought that Asleep Eidolon Mermaid for 1050 USD, they really don't care.

My mom finds them interesting; she doesn't really have many hobbies of her own and she's openly said that she admires me for having such creative hobbies. My father, well... he's kind of in his own little world. I'm sure if he were younger [My parents are older than most parents of kids my age; my dad's already had cancer, ON TOP of having a lot of back problems, so he's in lala land most of the time because of the medications he's on ^^; ] he'd help me out a lot with set building and stuff. But I can't really blame him for not being all that involved.

 

The other day, my aunt asked me, "Aren't you a little old to have dolls?", my other aunt thinks it's weird, and my grandmother has a slight interest in what I do with them (how I paint them, when I get a new one, what clothing I make for them), but she's also worried about the expenses of the hobby. Not that she doesn't have good reason, considering my current financial situation, but let's not go into that...

No one else really cares. A lot of people in my family have their own type of collections, be they normal or... borderline hoarding. <w<;

 

My sis is still kind of resentful that I got a boy instead of a girl and he makes fun of him My dad however only thinks "$600" when he sees my doll, not his beauty or the fun clothes i make him. I think my mom likes my doll the most and she likes all the fun little adventures I have with him

 

That's an easy one. My mom looks at me like I'm crazy and my daughter is threatening to put me in a home if I buy that luscious Bichun from Iplehouse.

 

I'm still kind of a closet case about dolls. My mom and brother know, and they're fine with it. I think my mother understands, and while my brother thinks my money would be better spent on video games he doesn't mind them. It's my father I'm worried about! I wonder what he'll say when my doll arrives. Hehehe..

 

Lol, at least it is just your aunt. Even though I don't have one yet, when I introduced the idea of getting an ABJD, my whole family was like........
Yeah and although I'm still looking for one, I'm also trying to figure out on how to hide my doll. My grandmother is notorious for giving my dolls to my younger cousins. >.<

 

The price is an issue for my mum, even though she keeps saying "it's your money, do what you want with, you don't ask for much anyway..." My dad seems pretty cool with it, and even admiredthe construction of Li-Xia.... However, they both hate Impldoll Xiaowei, who I love. My mum even calls her ugly . However, she is at the top of my to- buy list, and I have the moola My brother thinks its a bit creepy, but is pretty indifferent. That's it, really.

 

I get a lot of mixed responses from friends and family over my dolls.
My mom actually collects vintage dolls. Everything pre-pinkbox Barbie and lots of Kiddles, Blithes and things of that nature. My dad collects GI Joes and vintage toys, vintage clothes, vintage furnishings and muscle cars. So they can't really complain to me about how much money I spend on them, and they have never been the kind of people to enforce gender rolls and/or age rolls. So they don't really care about "dolls being for kidzz" or whatever.
The only concern expressed was by my mother over how I handle Bjorn (my AOD Yu Lou). She thinks I am too rough with him. I'm not really!! I think she is probably more worried about him getting messed up because I like him so much. If I didn't care about him as much as I do she probably wouldn't fuss at me over him.

My boyfriend thought the hobby was strange at first, but after I got Bjorn he kind of warmed up to it. Now he just wishes I would stop swooning over all of the attractive male dolls.

 

Family reactions haven't been too bad. I'm sure that those that are aware all think I am a bit crazy.
My husband of course wants me to stop getting any more. Every time I show interest in a new member for the family he always asks me how many I plan on getting.

 

Oh gosh that is one of the worse feelings! When someone who isn't in the hobby calls one of your dolls/ dream dolls ugly! I just ordered an IOS Chaos a little while ago and when I showed my friend she quickly told me that she didn't like him and that I should stick with the cuter ones.

Oh well~ You like what you like.

 

I haven't had anyone say that any of my boys are ugly but I have had quite a few people call them creepy. Guess that isn't a very good reaction, and one I really don't understand. Oh well...

 

My Mom Thinks I'm Stupid For Wanting To Spend Money On Dolls. My Dad Doesn't Mind Too Much And MY Sister Thinks They're Great. So At Least I Have Someone To Rant To About What Dollies I Want.

 

That's true. Ah well, I will (hopefully) order her this weekend None of my friends know, but one is into cosplay so there is a chance she has seen bjds beore, and she may be more understanding, with any luck.

 

My family's opinion is mixed but generally ambivalent. My parents figure it's just another avenue for my artistic endeavors, expensive though it may be. Perhaps they'd be more impressed if I ever showed them a complete doll; they usually see the dolls in an imcomplete state. I doubt my sister even cares, our interests are so far apart. My Mom-in-law is baffled and I've kept her strictly out of the loop as far as the dolls' cost. As a survivor of the Great Depression and the rationing of WWII, and a lifetime resident of the poverty level, she isn't equipped to understand how we choose to use our disposable income. I would rather not have her think worse of me than she already does. She's pretty much said she thinks I'm spoiled, and it's her son doing the spoiling, so she shouldn't complain, huh?

 

My daughter wants one, no surprise really since she's only 7. My husband, well he's being a bit passive-aggresive about. He asked how much my doll was and I was honest. I could tell he thought it was too much, so I talked up the engineering and the handmade and the resale value. Since then he's asked twice "you're not overspending, are you?" Since I still have the safety cushion in my account the answer has been a resounding "no!" Now he's talking about cutting our 'fun money allowence' It seems to me he thinks I have too much spare cash and that I'm wasting money. *sigh* the whole point of having seperate fun accounts was so I don't have to justify my purchases, it's not like I'm spending the grocery money.

 

My dad thinks l'm wasting my money on this hobby and l told him that l could be doing drugs, drinking ect. If my mother was alive l know she would understand. I look at it this way as long as the bills are paid then he has no say in it. Thank god l don't live with him.

 

I think my family's reaction is either apathy, or amusement. I can never tell by the sound of my mother's voice whenever I go off on a doll-rant at her. She just kind of laughs and tells me that's it's my money that I'm spending on it. I don't think anyone outside of my parents is even aware of it.

Luckily for me, if it was a negative reaction, I could tell them to step off. I'm a fully self-sufficient 23-year-old.

 

I don't think my parents really care, I've been collecting dolls for ages. My mom is amused with the sole fact that you can remove and change wigs XD. And actually, when Xiaofen arrived, she was very much curious with her, and played with her naked form while I was busy scrounging up some faceup supplies and clothing. And my dad' doesn't care, he's just like 'Oh, you're back to playing with dolls again?' Me: 'Uh-huh.' Him: '...K!'

 

My family members didn't really care much but wondered how much they costs.