When they were little, and for many years when they weren't so little, I told the girls stories about two little squirrels. These were smart, funny, beautiful squirrels; but they were not always very good about listening to their mom and they had lots of adventures when they didn't do what they were told. Everything always turned out well, and they were particularly interested since the squirrels had names very similar to their own.
For mother's day this year Spencer got me a set of wooden squirrels. I guess there are a lot of moms who might not be impressed, but it brought me to tears.
And they still do things I tell them not to do, and things still work out well for them anyway (but there are usually no alligators involved).