‘OK, class,’ says Claudia, ‘I’ve got a very important question and I want you to think long and hard about it. What do you want to be when you grow up?’

They suddenly snap to attention pondering one of life’s deep questions for a seven-year-old. Adults ask children it all the time. It’s a bit of a cruel trick in a way, making them dream big, convincing them they can be anything they want, but how many people actually get their exact dream job? Don’t most people have to adjust their life goals based on the hand they’re dealt? The resources they have, the grades they get, the opportunities that are available to them. Or, in my case, the life they inherit when everything falls apart.

‘Let’s see, does anyone want to be a firefighter?’ asks Claudia, pausing to see a show of hands. ‘OK, a few. How about an astronaut? … A doctor? … Chef? … Actor? … Business owner? How about you, Scarlett?’

‘I want to be the prime minister or a zookeeper.’

‘Excellent choices. Lucas?’

‘A sorcerer.’

‘Like a magician?’

‘Like a wizard,’ he says, his eyes widening.

‘Magic, I like it.’ Claudia nods. ‘Now what do you think Marcus in the book wanted to be?’

Hands shoot up and she points to a boy at the back.

‘Um, everything? But he looked happiest in the pictures when he was an astronaut.’

‘He did look pretty happy in that picture and maybe that was what he wanted to do the most. But isn’t that the best bit? That there are so many options and possibilities of what he could do?’

‘Yes, he’s lucky. He’ll grow up to be a man,’ says Scarlett, twiddling hair around her finger.

I bite my lip and try not to laugh as she seems to have morphed from a seven-year-old into a fully grown woman.

‘You’ll be able to do all those things too. Edie is living proof that you can achieve great things if you work hard for it,’ says Claudia, swooping in quickly.

Scarlett doesn’t look convinced, and I try hard not to smile. She’s so feisty that I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll be smashing glass ceilings whatever she decides to do.

‘And what did you want to be, Edie, when you were our age?’ asks Rohan, one of Layla’s twins.

‘Oh, um, I …’ I’m caught off guard by the question and my mind’s gone blank. ‘I’m not sure, maybe at your age … I probably wanted to be a ballerina or a bobsleigh driver.’

The kids pull confused faces and Claudia, who must be close in age to me, laughs.

‘There was a film … bit of a long story,’ I try to explain. ‘But then when I got older, I dreamed of changing the world, becoming a lawyer or even a teacher.’