Betty Button
In the early days Betty strongly resembled a woodland creature. At night it seemed that she would shin down the drainpipe and hang out with the owls and badgers. Now she is kind of a combination of a gymnast, a monkey and a perpetual motion machine. She is getting quite long and it is easy to imagine her making a splash in musical theatre when she grows up. Either that or a runner of ultra-marathons. Meanwhile Tom spoils her absolutely rotten and is often busy indulging some very minor Bettyish whim, such as categorising dead leaves according to colour.
Dolly Button
When she was a newborn baby she bore an uncanny resemblance to Phil Mitchell. These days the physical resemblance has gone but shades of thuggishness have persisted in her personality and outlook. She has a laser-stare which can wither at a hundred paces. One explanation is that she was something pretty important in a previous life and she feels that something has gone a bit wrong in the reincarnation process for her to have ended up as the youngest member of the Button family. She makes the best of a bad lot, however, and sometimes lets me and Tom kiss her on the cheek.
Tom Button
He demonstrates traits not dissimilar to those of Daddy Pig - particularly in terms of roundness of stomach and lack of common sense. Tom works from home which means that Betty and Dolly are very accustomed to his presence even though he is usually in 'work mode', i.e. too busy and mentally absent to pander to Betty's latest request. Tom's approach to parenting revolves around finding activities that allow Betty and Dolly to productively and safely self-entertain while he contemplates the world passing by. So far his best effort has been a twenty minute period spent lying on a futon mattress in a tipi while Betty (aged 3) made a nest out of blankets and cushions, and Dolly (aged 1) whacked a drum with a rubber beater.
