'My daughter Aoide is four and has decided that she wants a Barbie doll. The thing is, I'm not a big fan of Barbie and I think she's too young for one anyway. When I was a kid we were allowed to have Sindys but not Barbies. Maybe because the Sindy doll seemed a little more innocent because, let's face it, Barbie is a very mature-looking young lady. Barbie also conforms to that American hyper-developed-doll stereotype and pink-crazed-madness that the big toy stores seem to specialise in. Plus Barbie is a little too suggestive for a four-year-old ? no matter how much she thinks she wants one.

If she's going to get into dolls, then I'd like to steer her away from the Barbie-type stuff and towards a more classic doll ? like the Sindy from the 1980s that I had when I was a child. Sindy always seemed better-made, better-designed and more like a stylish girl-next-door, than Barbie. So I went and had a look for my old Sindys for Aoide and of course I couldn't find any because I didn't take very good care of dolls when I was a kid. I was more into Lego and that type of thing. I used to cut my Sindys' hair off and most of them had amputated limbs or were hanging from trees by the time I was finished with them.

I had a look on eBay to try and buy a couple and there are plenty of Sindys for sale but only ones that are in mint condition and are selling for a hundred euro, so I thought I'd try the local ads instead. I'd no idea before I started looking that there was such a demand for collectible dolls and toys. Some people will spend so much money on them. Any downturn or worldwide recession certainly hasn't affected the price of collectible dolls.

I think there's a lot of pressure on parents to make the right decisions all the time. I often wonder: "Am I doing the right thing?" or "Is this the right thing to be buying for them?" And that goes for everything ? from what they eat, to what they wear, to where they go to school, or playschool. It's non-stop. Thankfully, Aoide is too young for peer pressure to be a problem but it's hard to find a kid's TV channel without ads for toys. When I was a kid, we only saw ads for toys at Christmas whereas now, they're on constantly. I'm a bit stubborn though and when it comes to stuff like that, if she starts demanding things that aren't suitable, I can't see myself giving in. There will probably be plenty of rows down the line.

No doubt I'll be doing the same thing in a few years to my 18-month-old, Daire, when he wants a Power Rangers toy or something. I'll be like: "No, no, no, you don't want that. You want this lovely wooden educational toy'."

I think I'm fighting a losing battle though and probably wasting my time by going against the flow but I have to try and have a little say.

So hopefully I'll pick up one or two old Sindys cheaply somewhere ? or I can at least find a compromise. The good thing is that there isn't a mad hurry on it because she changes her mind like the wind, so she'll probably hate dolls by Christmas and like them again by next Easter.

I don't majorly object to Barbie dolls really, I'd just prefer if Aoide chose something else to play with and Sindy is a good classic doll that's well-made and a little less grown-up. I know plenty of people who had Barbies growing up and they haven't been warped by them. But I still don't want to buy one for my daughter.

If I'd heard myself talking like this 10 years ago, I wouldn't have believed it. I didn't realise I was a prude until I had kids."