Monsters High Dolls house

Dear Dr. Laura,

We have a no Monster High Doll rule in our household. We talk about body image and adult clothes that aren't for kids. She just turned 7 and was given 2 Monster High Dolls. She is eagerly awaiting our decision if she can keep them or not. what is the best way to handle this?

Oh, what a sad situation! This is a values question, not a psychology question, really.

I completely support your decision not to have Monster High dolls in your house. The dolls are highly sexualized. The webisodes about the characters seem to mostly be about girls being mean to each other. These dolls give all the wrong messages.

I would say to your daughter "I know the person who gave you this present did not know our house rules, but our house rule is still no MH dolls. If they didn't know that you can't legally drive a car, and they gave you a car, you could still not drive a car, even though you received one as a present. So you still can't have MH dolls because that is our house rule, even though you received them as a present. So we will return these to the store and you can use that same amount of money to pick out anything you want.

I know your daughter will be very disappointed. I would honor that disappointment but stick to your values.
BTW, there's a great post on Monster High that you might want to read, by Dr. Jennifer Shewmaker. " Does Monster High Teach Kindness?"

Good luck!