I am serious. I don't play

Not a long time ago, Ilona sat on the couch between me and Nicolai. She put her hands on our knees and solemnly said: “We need to talk, seriously.” We both froze. To be short, the problem was that a little boy from kindergarden only wanted to play with her and that would rattle my Ilona. Me and Nicolai, both, laughed a little. “Maman, I am serious. When I play, I play, but when I don’t feel like it, I don’t play. C’est simple.“

It was one of those moments when I looked at her and I saw myself. Just as during the photo sessions, the photographer would urge her to laugh and Ilona promptly answered: “I don’t want to laugh now. Sometimes, we must be serious.” And she is only four years old