About a year ago, I purchased two life-size Belle dolls for my girls at the Disney Store (on sale, of course) and gave them as presents this past Christmas.  The dolls were a hit with my two princesses and they brought them to bed on Christmas night.

That night, Allan read the girls their bedtime stories as usual, but he tucked them in and turned out the light before I had a chance to kiss them good night.

I walked into a pitch black room and leaned in to kiss Emmalynn and All….What the???

The cold stare of a hideous rag doll startled me and made me jump out of my skin. 

My girls and I rolled in laughter.

Once our giggles slowed, Emmalynn requested for me to sing her favorite lullaby. “Momma, sing Momma gonna buy me somethin’.”

I attempted to sing Hush Little Baby when a Belle doll began to rise behind Emmalynn’s back, like a vampire rising from a coffin.  Controlling the doll like a skillful puppeteer, Allana made the doll sit up, turn its head and stare at me again, like a scene from an 80’s B-horror film

Before I explain my gut reaction, I feel it is necessary to explain what would cause me to react in such a manner.  Do you remember the clown from Poltergeist?  That miserable marionette left such an impression on me that clowns and dolls have forever caused me to shudder. 

With its haunting eyes gawking at me, I punched the doll in the head I bust out laughing once again and so did my girls.  I tried to shake out my sillies and sing another lullaby, Baby Mine, but my own snickers interrupted each note I sang.  No one could sleep that night because visions of Belle dolls danced arose in our heads.

And now every night since we returned from N.C. (Those freaky things were not coming with us!), my girls find new ways to haunt me disturb me tease me make me laugh with their scary life-size Belle dolls.

They’re heeeerrrre!