Poor Baby

I've heard that actors and class clowns are often babies of the family. Observing my own kids I think I know why. Our current baby is only one year old, but she is already participating in make-believe with her older brother and sister. She doesn't know it, of course, and she understands even less that she is always cast in the insignificant or bad guy roles. So far in the past few days they have assigned her the roles of Carrie (the baby sister in Little House on the Prairie), their dog Moreover (from the movie Biscuit Eater), the fish they "caught" and were about to "filet" ("We're being gentle Mama!"), Mr. Pendergast (the scary man on Pollyanna) and Miss Minchen (the evil boarding school headmistress in The Little Princess). If this is normal, and I'm sure it is, there must be just a few options for the baby. The most creative would be to beat these character casters at their own game. I'll be interested to see the day when Sarah realizes what's going on and turns the tables. She might highjack the leading role. Or she might just shrug her shoulders and say, "Supporting actors always get the best parts anyway."