Karren gets a present for Laura's birthday

In August 1983, Laura was approaching her fourth birthday. Of course, Laura wanted a doll more than anything else, and we were happy to accommodate her. The biggest source of concern was Karren. At 18 months, she couldn't possibly understand why Laura would get a new doll and not herself. Karren would be furious, and Laura would feel bad for Karren. The obvious solution, then, was to get Karren a doll for herself. Time enough to teach her that the world didn't revolve around her when she was old enough to understand the concept.

So Laura's birthday dawned, and when the birthday girl drifted into the kitchen, she was given a big beautiful baby doll. She was thrilled. Karren, however, was the most thrilled of anyone when, tousled with sleep, she was presented with a baby doll of her own. It was much smaller than Laura's, but she looked beyond such trivial details. It was her own doll, and she hugged it to herself with whole-hearted delight. And the birthday continued without incident.

Crisis averted. Whew!