Candy came to school frequently claiming she had a vast array of family pets: a dog, a rabbit, hamsters, goldfish and a goat. One of the pets was a huge guard dog that growled at anyone who came near her front door and had bitten the postman. She told her teacher that her parents were going to live together again, and that her mummy was having a baby.
The older children in the nursery gradually began to realise there was little substance in the stories. They accused her of lying and excluded her from their games.
At first the teachers were confused, not knowing how much truth was in the stories. Having established with her mother they were unfounded, they began to respond differently to Candy's tales. They talked with her about how wonderful it would be actually to have a family of pets. They acknowledged how lonely, frightened and unprotected she sometimes felt when both her mummy and daddy were away. They spoke about how much she would like it if they did live together again and have a baby like her friends' parents.
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