MARK MY WORD: KIDS FIND ROOM FOR 'LIVING' WITH KEN AND BARBIE

Our kids love the living room. They hang out there, holding Barbie doll conventions, American Girl doll sleepovers and playing school.

They have their own rooms, but Becca and Bailey prefer the majesty of the living room where the couch doubles as a toy chest and the couch pillows get rearranged to suit their imagination.

Our daughters love redecorating the room with a toy-clutter motif. For some reason that Joni and I can't fathom, they love to spread towels and blankets all over the carpet.

They subdivide the room into their own little kingdoms, with school rooms, bedrooms and work areas for Barbie and her gang.

They stack stuff in and around a large play house. Their Easter baskets, full of candy, can be found near the easy chair in a corner of the room.

Toys that get picked up one night manage to reappear the next.

Becca and Bailey have their own rooms to mess up, but they prefer the living room. They seemingly have no concept of the living room as a place where adults could actually sit down and relax.

We've found everything from bowling balls to scooters in the room. The children often pretend to have picnics in the living room, getting out cereal bowls and silverware for the occasion and neatly spreading everything out on the carpet.

As a dad, I'm a realist. I don't expect my living room to resemble a smoothly sculptured area like those pictured in Architectural Digest. After all, Webster's defines a living room as a room "used for the common social activities of the occupants," not as a room "used for the common social activities of parents."

But every now and then, I'd like to see my living room of old, the way it used to be before our children exercised squatters' rights.

Joni and I don't mind a little child's play, but we do believe the living room shouldn't be an obstacle course. Of course, Becca and Bailey never view their playthings as an obstacle course.

Our children seem to know where every toy is stored, which, these days, seems to be in the living room. Naturally, most of their toys seem to cling to the floor for dear life. Gravity and children have that effect on toys.

Personally, I understand why Barbie and Ken want to hang out in the living room. For one thing, there's a stereo and CD player to provide music for the gang.

When the Barbie dolls aren't lounging around the living room, Becca and Bailey take center stage, turning the area into their personal dance stage. They also like to model dress clothes in the room, but only if Joni and I are there to provide an attentive audience.

At other times, they would just as soon we stay closeted in the family room. Becca and Bailey often have admonished me for walking across the living room floor and creating a disruption in their doll kingdom.

I'm sympathetic, of course. As a self-respecting dad, I hate to create turmoil in the land of Barbie. But I just want to be sure that our living room is still there, even under all those blankets, doll beds and accessories.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.