Barbie—and so, so many of her friends—have suddenly come to live at my house.

It all happened so innocently.

I was cleaning out my basement with the granddaughter in tow. As we sorted through boxes, she discovered a plastic bin containing three Barbie dolls and some accessories that had belonged to my niece.

I never dreamed a 3-year-old would get so into the doll I thought was geared toward older kids, but before I knew it, a solid hour had gone by with her on the floor entertaining herself with the dolls.

It was an amazing break for Nana!

Of course, we carried the bin of Barbies upstairs so it would be readily available if and when she chose to play another day.

Now in my mind, I’m thinking this new hobby would wear off in, oh, say 2 hours to 2 days and then I would return the bin to the dark corner of the basement, where it would remain for another 3 years or more.

But I was wrong. So very, very, wrong.

The next day, Barbie and her two friends were hauled out of the bin for the afternoon.

The day after that, I was asked to get the doctor kit (the one she uses for her baby dolls) so we could give the 9-inch fashion dolls a checkup.

And there was where I made a rookie mistake: I thought, “Oh, don’t they make a doctor Barbie? Surely, Target has that!”

So off we went to Target, where the little Miss tossed Medical Doctor Barbie into the cart.

Let me stop here to explain the gravity of what I had just done. Spoiler alert: That one act hit about a 5.2 on the Richter scale in our small town.

We bought ONE Barbie. But who knew these dolls just seem to multiply like bunnies?!

Not only did I find myself back at Target the following week (OK, so maybe it was the following day, I can’t remember—ask the kid. She has a memory like an elephant!), but the SHOCKWAVE extended to her other grandmother (who watches her on the weekdays that I don’t), who also was hustled into a trip (or three) to Target.

So now, there’s a single-family house on both sides of town that have several new miniature residents.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Our darling granddaughter has a mother who is not, nor has she ever, been a fan of the Barbie doll. (That’s all on her, I swear! I always encouraged my daughter to have every doll opportunity out there because I always loved dolls of all sizes. The apple, however, didn’t land anywhere near the tree.)

Imagine her SHOCKWAVE when the little one runs in the door carrying an armful of little dolls that she “borrowed” from Nana’s house and Grammy’s house for a “sleepover.”

Good thing mommy is tolerant, because the “sleepover” has led to what has become a pile of Barbies couch-surfing in that domicile as well.

See? The ripples have been felt all across town!

So if this were a math problem: When you take 1 granddaughter and 1 grandmother to Target and add another grandmother x 4 more trips to Target, how many Barbies do you get in three homes in one town?

I have no answer. Nobody has added up the number of Barbies we all now have, but I’m pretty sure I should’ve purchased Mattel stock.

And this was just the beginning. Stay tuned for more of the Barbie doll saga!