caaaaaaahhhhlm!
When Elsie is running around like a mad thing and I need her to calm down and get ready for bed, or eat her dinner, or generally behave more like a human being and less like a wild animal I tend to bring her to me, give her a big cuddle and look into those big brown eyes. 'Calm down, my love' I say, 'try and calm down.' Sometimes she stays for the cuddle, the thumb might sneak over to her mouth and it works. Generally though, she gives me a cheeky smile, pulls away from me and carries on as before. The other day, I was asking her not to do something. Details escape my poor tired brain, but let's say I was asking her not to kick the back of my seat in the car. It was definitely in the car. 'Why not Mummy?' she asked, all innocent sweetness. 'Well, when you kick my seat, I can feel it in my back and it's not very comfortable.' 'This isn't comfortable?' she asked, giving the seat a good kick to double-check. 'No! Elsie pl...