So we closed on our house last week. Hooray...I think. Now I am consumed with thoughts of when the new tile and carpet will be installed and if the paint nazi will be done in time and when can I order new furniture. But I can't be consumed for long because I have a fabulous 11 year old daughter that is consumed with something else. This means I too must be consumed with it. Everyone knows kids can get obsessed with certain things but my little one is autistic, mildly autistic and considered high functioning, but autistic all the same. When an autistic person gets consumed with something...well, everyone in the house is consumed with that something too. My daughter is currently obsessed with collecting Barbie Peekaboo Petite dollys. These are tiny little Barbies that come in their own plastic "bubble" with all their tiny accessories inside. About a week ago I told her she could go to Walmart and pick a reward if she cleaned her piggy room. She did it and we went to Walmart and she found the Barbie Peekaboo Petite dollys. The world as we knew it was over. She picked Lydia from London (Lydia came in a little plastic globe) and inside with all the other tiny stuff was a little brochure with ALL the Barbie Peekaboo Petite dollys available for collection. I have not heard the end of it since the moment she opened Lydia's package. In the next day or two my daughter organized her closet and we went back to Walmart to get Maria from Mexico and Jamika from Johannisberg (she came with a tiny giraffe...mezmerizing). I hear about the Barbie Peekaboo Petite dollys everyday, many, many times a day. We sit and look at the brochure, going over each and every dolly with my daughter pointing out which ones she likes the best and which ones she wants next and deciding what chores she can do to earn another trip to Walmart or Target to buy another Barbie Peekaboo Petite dolly. Here's the catch. The stores only carry one or two Barbie Peekaboo Petite dollys. We now have the few they carry. My daughter was showing her CC (my mother) the fabulous Barbie Peekaboo Petite dolly brochure for probably the sixth time in a few hours last Saturday and mentioned that we couldn't find all the dollys she wanted in the stores and my wise mother, bless her heart, said "Well why don't you ask your Mom to check on the internet for you?" I was making sandwiches a few feet away. I stopped what I was doing and stared at her. She looked back at me and I gave her a sarcastic thumbs up. "Sorry" she mouthed back at me. "Mom! Can you look on the internet for the Peekaboo dollys I want? Please?" Just when I thought we had exhausted the Barbie Peekaboo Petite dolly collection in our area, the world wide web opens up an endless sea of hope for my daughter. So the Barbie Peekaboo Petite dolly obsession lives to haunt me another eternal day. When am I ever going to find time to obsess over my new carpet and tile and furniture...hmmm...when it comes down to it, I guess we are all a little bit autistic...later.