When I was a little girl I used to play house and I always had a baby doll on my hip. In fact, I had a room full of baby dolls. I loved each one and thought that they were all so pretty.
As a cleft kid I’m sure there were times I wondered why there wasn’t a baby doll that looked like me. In talking to my mom she said, “I don’t think you thought of yourself as different.” and that seems about right. Now that I’m an adult and see kiddos with clefts holding baby dolls I desperately want those children to have a cleft doll, so that they will have that to show their friends, to help them understand or to not feel different as I know cleft kids sometimes do.
Well that’s where my third shout out comes in. Tiny Wide Smiles is a business that takes dolls and gives them a cleft or cleft scar so that the child can have a baby doll that looks like her/him. Some who don’t understand clefts might think it’s extreme to put scars on dolls but it is not if you are a cleftie. This is an awesome idea for those of us with clefts or who have cleft kids.
There are girl and boy dolls of all different colors and types. This business is bringing lots of smiles to little girls and boys as well as their parents.
Please if you know anyone with a child born with a cleft, show their parent/guardian the Tiny Wide Smiles and bring a smile to their face. The link is below.
lovethisface 