Not an actual illustration of this conversation.

W: “Mommy, you look like Courtney.”

E: “Courtney? Who’s… wait, you mean Courtney in the book we’re reading?”

W: “Yes, you look just like her.”

E: “There aren’t any pictures of her…”

W. “But you look exactly like the way they describe her.”

E: “Courtney’s African-American, though.”

W: “I know! I mean EXCEPT for that.”

E: “So if I were black, I’d look like Courtney.”

W: “YES!”

E: [Thinking of Courtney descriptors] “But I’d have to have curly hair, right?”

W: “Right. And short hair.”

E: “And brown eyes.”

W: “Yes.”

E: “And be 12 years old and not a grown-up woman.”

W: “Right.”

E: “So other than those things you can hardly tell us apart.”

W. “Exactly. That’s what I’ve been TRYING to SAY.”