We shared this wonderful story by Oliver Jeffers at bedtime recently.

We had a little chat about it afterwards. I asked my daughter who she thought the moose belonged to. She thought it belonged to Wilfredo (he’s the chap on the front), even though the others thought it belonged to them. I put forward the idea that maybe the moose belonged to the moose, and nobody else. She looked a little confused by this notion. So I said “Like you. You’re you and you belong to you.” (I used her name in the original conversation so it was clearer for her!) She replied “Except I belong to you mummy”.

Which was lovely to hear, but I wasn’t entirely comfortable with leaving it there. So I talked about how she doesn’t belong to me, but I will take care of her and look after her until she’s ready to look after herself. At which point she looked crestfallen and I just knew she was going to get upset at the prospect of me not looking after her anymore.

So I continued by talking about my own parents and how they still look after me, and now look after her too. So I promised that even when she was big like me, I’d take care of her like my parents still do for me.

And it suddenly occurred to me, and I put it to her, “I think that means that I belong to you, just as much as you belong to me.” She gave me a thoughtful stare and then gave me a big cuddle and said “I belong to you very much”.

To which I could only reply “I belong to you very much too”.

I love that as she develops, our conversations are getting more and more interesting, and forcing me to reflect and think about things differently too. This learning journey is absolutely not one sided and I am always thrilled to discover what she will teach me next. I’m also excited to keep sharing wonderful stories with her, and for them to inspire and engage us in deeper issues. I’ve got another couple of books on the shelf that she originally branded “boring” and hasn’t been inspired to try them yet, but which I’m beginning to think she may now be ready to start to engage with. We are big fans of Oliver Jeffers and his simple, yet thought provoking books. If anyone has any recommendations of other books / authors we might enjoy, please pop them in the comments and we’ll head to the library.