Daddy Dolls help children cope with fathers fighting overseas

Historically, dolls have existed for many reasons. They served as a vehicle for getting fashion information to the wide world before the advent of rapid visual communication, for example. But mostly, they have been, and continue to be, playthings for little girls – and boys, after the advent of GI Joe “action figures.”

As playthings, most dolls are created in the guise of babies, toddlers and fashion mavens such as Barbie and her cadre of friends.

Only recently have dolls been created to stand-in for daddies fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daddy Dolls, or Hug-A-Hero, as they are known, came into being when Tricia Dyal, a military wife, needed something to fill the absence left by her small daughters’ father, who was stationed in Iraq. She asked a relative to make something her little girls could hug. The resulting doll has a photo image of the girls’ father printed on the fabric. Each doll is about 20 inches tall, and its shape follows the rough outline of daddy’s pictured form.

For the toddler-age girls, the Daddy Dolls serve as a memory bank of what daddy looks like. And even though he can’t hug them back, they can hug his padded image. Carrying the Daddy Doll carries his loving presence into the daily routine of their lives.

Dyal and another military wife have taken the Daddy Doll idea several steps further and now create daddy photo-imaged pillowcases, puzzles, pillows and dog tags they sell online.

Maine Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Barbara Claudel introduced the families of Maine soldiers to another kind of doll – a life-size “paper” doll known as Flat Daddies. Enlarged photos of soldier fathers are affixed to foam core board. These Flat Daddies can be propped up in the living room or laid on the couch for a rest. They can ride in the car and be present at the table at suppertime. They can go on the slide at the playground, and they can ride around in a little red wagon.

Such ingenuity is a noble thing, signifying that perhaps for the first time in the history of human warfare, much thought is being given to the emotional pain and separation anxiety suffered by children too young to understand that Daddy is doing military duty in a fearsomely dangerous part of the world and can’t come home right now.

Neither Daddy Dolls nor Flat Daddies are a substitute for the real thing, but until the real daddy full of hugs and kisses can reclaim his role in family life, clever use of fabric and thread helps to fill the void.

To learn more about Daddy Dolls, visit www.daddydolls.com. At the site you will find information about Operation Donation, which endeavors to provide Daddy Dolls to families in need who can’t afford a doll or who have lost a daddy in the line of duty.

Another helpful aspect of the Web site is the Beating Separations Blues section which features tips from military wives on how they help their children stay connected with their daddies. Craft ideas include making scrapbooks, and paper chains which help children understand how long Daddy has been gone and how many more links must be added before Daddy comes home.

To view photos of families with their Flat Daddies, visit www.me.ngb.army.mil. Click on Family Services, then Flat Daddy Sightings.

Snippets

To access a wealth of free knitting and crocheting patterns, visit www.berroco.com, www.lionbrand.com or www.knitty.com.

Visit www.coatsandclark.com and click on free patterns, then sewing to view “After the Mona Lisa 2” by Deborah Sperber. Her work is made of 5,184 spools of Coats Dual Duty thread as a color palette to re-create a detail of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.