There's something in my daughter's bedroom that takes center stage when her friends come around to play. It's her doll's house. It's a typical girls' toy, but one of the best and most interesting. She got it as a birthday present a couple of years ago, and squealed with delight when she opened the box. I would have liked to have to got her a wooden one; they seem better designed, more traditional, and the type that you keep as an heirloom. However, the only decent one that was available was the plastic one from Walmart. So, that was the one that was chosen for her. The outside looks ornate, with Victorian style architectural elements. However, the fun starts when you open it. One side of the house is split in two, like a double door fridge. Inside the two parts that open up, are two rooms. A patio folds out, and there are three floors revealed in the main area of the house. Of course, you have to furnish the house. The manufacturers are very smart; they sell sets of furniture separately from the house itself. So, for example, you have a kitchen set that you can buy, or a living room, or a bedroom set. My mother and mother-in-law got several sets of furniture as their presents, so by the end of her birthday, Domini had the house totally furnished, and ready for a doll to move in. It's a toy that really stimulates the imagination. Even her brothers have played with it. I think that that is great, but I can tell that they pretend that they're not interested in it, when they actually are. The doll's house is up in her bedroom, in a corner where it is safe; you know how these plastic toys can get damaged easily. I clean and pick up in her bedroom during the week, and often I find myself in that corner where the house is. I start by picking up furniture that has been left all over the floor, and before I know it, I have spent fifteen minutes arranging everything nicely in the house. It's a brief playtime for me when nobody is around, and it's a lot easier to tidy that house, than to tidy my own! Unlike the doll's house that I used to have, it has an eclectic mix of traditional furniture, and modern appliances. It even has a computer desk with a laptop! Those lucky dolls have the internet at their fingertips, and I'm sure they listen to podcasts whenever they can..... Grammar notes. Related expressions: to take center stage, an heirloom, before you know it, to have something at your fingertips. 1. To take center stage is to be at the center of everyone's attention, or to be the most important in a performance. 2. I bought an heirloom tomato. These seeds have been kept and replanted for generations! 3. It was icy when I went outside for my walk. I locked the front door and headed towards the street, when, before you know it, I had slipped and fallen. 4. To have something at your fingertips is to have convenient access to something, like technology, or the use of transportation. Tweet //
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other recent transcribed episodes
Transcribed and ready to explore now
SpaceX Said to Pursue 2026 IPO
10 Dec 2025
Bloomberg Tech
Don’t Call It a Comeback
10 Dec 2025
Motley Fool Money
Japan Claims AGI, Pentagon Adopts Gemini, and MIT Designs New Medicines
10 Dec 2025
The Daily AI Show
Eric Larsen on the emergence and potential of AI in healthcare
10 Dec 2025
McKinsey on Healthcare
What it will take for AI to scale (energy, compute, talent)
10 Dec 2025
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View
Reducing Burnout and Boosting Revenue in ASCs
10 Dec 2025
Becker’s Healthcare -- Spine and Orthopedic Podcast