Tall Tales From Little People

(My five-year-old daughter has just started a new school. I am collecting her one afternoon when the teacher asks to talk to me.)

Teacher: “Hello, Mrs. [My Name]. Your daughter is catching up well, but she has said something recently that I thought I had better ask you about.”

Me: “Okay.”

Teacher: “She has told us all that you are not her real mother. She says that you found her on the doorstep in a basket and adopted her.”

Me: “That’s interesting.”

Teacher: “I don’t really think she is telling the truth, but she is very convincing.”

(I look at my daughter, who is sitting there wide-eyed, listening to her whole fantasy being laid out to me.)

Me: “It wasn’t a basket. It was a cake tin; somebody left me a little fruitcake.”

(I turn my attention back to the teacher.)

Me: “Thanks for letting me know. It’s all a complete fabrication, of course. We’ll have a little chat about the perils of spinning stories and pretending they are true.”

(My, now grown-up daughter has continued making up stories all her life. She writes a lot in her spare time, and now works in the TV and film industry!)