So. Did you have a Cabbage Patch Kid when you were young? I had several. In fact, I hung onto them for years and years, and it’s only recently that they seem to have gone missing – probably during our last move. I’m so bummed! Let me tell you a wee little story about my Cabbage Patch Kids…

My very first ‘Kid was a birthday present I received when I was actually far too old to be carrying around dolls, but they were so ridiculously popular, everyone had them! In this picture, you can see me lovingly cradling my ‘Kid. I’m not sure why I look so pissed off, but it probably had something to do with that haircut.

I wore braces then, and I took my Cabbage Patch Kid with me to the orthodontist one day and asked if they could put braces on my ‘Kid. They said they’d see what they could do. Later on that day, I stopped by the orthodontist office on my way home from school, and I was thrilled to see my Cabbage Patch Kid sitting on the receptionist’s counter, with shiny braces on! They somehow stuck four little metal brackets and a wire right into my CPK’s mouth, even though she really didn’t have teeth. It was darling, and all my friends thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Later that summer, we went on vacation, and here’s where the story takes a scary turn! ::cue dramatic music:: On our way back home, my mom’s car caught on fire out in the Utah desert. We managed to scramble out of it in the nick of time, and I vividly remember standing with my cousin out in the middle of the interstate on the blistering hot pavement, burning our bare feet, and watching my mom’s car completely engulfed in flames. We both lost our Cabbage Patch Kids that day! (And, all our luggage, my mom’s purse, and our yearbooks. Who takes their Cabbage Patch Kids and their yearbooks on vacation? 7th graders, that’s who.)

When we got back home, I immediately guilt-tripped my mother into buying me a new Cabbage Patch Kid. And within days, my grandparents stopped by with a new Cabbage Patch Kid for me as well, so now I owned TWO! I was so cool. And my orthodontist put braces on one of them for me, to replace the one that I lost in the fire. I had both those Cabbage Patch Kids sitting on a shelf until after I was MARRIED, people. I’m not sure what happened to them once I moved out of my ex-husband’s house. I’m sure they ended up at a thrift store, which seriously bums me out.

I just went through my old photo albums, and this is the only picture I found where you can see my Cabbage Patch Kids. It’s sort of a Where’s Waldo? thing, though. They’re just background scenery, barely noticeable. But you’re noticing my feathered bangs, aren’t ya? I knew it. See them up there on the shelf above me? Yep. There they are. The one in the pink has braces.

Well. I’m sure you’ve noticed that nostalgia is the hottest commodity these days. Everyone wants to relive their 80s youth, it would seem, and the makers of Cabbage Patch Kids are jumping on that bandwagon as well. You can now buy a 25th Anniversary replica one-of-a-kind 80s Cabbage Patch Kid, made from the same sculpts/molds and materials as the original 1983 dolls.

They still come with their own adoption certificate, and hiney tattoo of Xavier Roberts’ signature. Here are my own kids, checking out our family’s newest adoptee, and hearing me tell the story of my old Cabbage Patch Kids:

These were truly the first toys that turned parents into monsters, trying to score them as Christmas presents – way before Tickle Me Elmo ever hit the scene! If you want to relive your youth, snag one of these for your own children! You can find out more about them on the Cabbage Patch Kids 25th Anniversary site.

This review was made possible by Team Mom!