Us moving house meant a huge garage sale was in order. The attic was cleared of all it’s treasures. Some were packed up in boxes to be moved to the new place, and some were reluctantly priced by my hoard-er of a mum.

It was pretty easy to price things, until we came across the Barbie Doll house.

I know it doesn’t look exactly like the pink barbie doll house you’d expect, probably because my sister gave it a fresh coat of paint some years back, and tits furniture isn’t in place. To anyone, it’s just a barbie doll house, but to us it’s the story of how we came to acquire the house which brings us to tears.

My mum is an Artist by qualification, attaining her degree in fabric design in England. There’s where she met my dad. Fast forward maybe around 8 years and they are living in Singapore with 2 daughters.

She moved to Singapore with my dad for his job, renting the house in Holland Road that we went on to stay in for the next 30 years. It was a struggle financially with rent and expenses for 4 of us. Mummy was kept preoccupied with us two little devils, but felt the need to contribute to the household expenses, that’s when she started her own business in Fabric design and manufacturing Children’s Playbook.

Few years later, she started teaching Children’s Art Classes which grew into a thriving business for the next 25 years! Linda Gray Art Classes. She was and IS a SuperMom!

But it wasn’t just to help with the expenses, but also for herself, to be reminded of her self-worth and her valued contributions to building a home.

Back to the Barbie Doll House.

Why it means so much to us is because this was the very first thing my mum bought for me and Jie Jie with her very FIRST pay cheque.

The barbie doll house sure wasn’t cheap back then, but the joy in her heart and on our faces were priceless.

We Love you Mummy!