Following an admirable tradition thought up by the Dutch Mama, soft toys in our house are called after their donors. The Princess won a giraffe at the fair and we asked the stall holder his name so that we could pass it on to the giraffe (suitably feminised as the giraffe was definitely a girl).
“Francoise” said our girl “what a strange name”. Her father and I protested that it was a classic French name. “Like Manon”. She shook her head. “Or Sophie.” “No, but”, she volunteered hopefully, “we have two Imanes in our class”.
