My little girl’s favorite “toy” is her imagination, which is a truly fabulous thing to watch as she reenacts Olivia stories, collects eggs from under the “chickens” (couch cushions), takes care of her imaginary kittens, speaks comfortingly to little lost souls in the stories we read…

It only backfires, say, when, after watching Mary Poppins a couple of times, Vivienne cries the whole way to the bank, wondering what’s wrong with her mother who so gladly deposits the money she’s been collecting in her “Sheepy Bank” for 2 years. “I don’t want to go to the bank! I want to keep my money!” (If you haven’t seen Mary Poppins, you need to know that young Michael causes quite the disturbance for his banker-father when he refuses to invest his tuppence, wanting to feed the birds instead.) It took all of my creativity to undo the damage and convince V that investing our money really is a good thing…

The theatrics became charming again when, today, Vivienne walked into the kitchen and asked, “Momma, may I please have some tuppence?” She then proceeded to wrap herself in a blanket and coo in a most pathetic voice, “Feed the birds, tuppence a bag…”