Insanity
Mr Banks had been enraged by the cold water that was awaiting his morning shave, coming downstairs, only to bring the bottom newel cap with him.
"What is the meaning of this?" he yelled to nobody in particular, holding up the wooden ball in his hand.
The bottom post of the staircase looked rather empty without it. Mrs Banks came hurrying from the parlour to apologise, having been scolding Ellen for the vase she had broken earlier that morning.
Ellen was now crying in the kitchen, Mrs Brill trying to comfort her as she made breakfast. Robertson Ay was nowhere to be found- asleep in the cupboard under the stairs, leaning on the mop and bucket.
John and Barbara had been arguing all morning, Jane had returned from school only to have her reading book ruined by Annabel's glass of milk, and Michael had decided he was in a Bad Mood. And nobody was to disturb him.
The only person who didn't seem to mind was Mary Poppins. Whisking around the house, the breakfast was completed, Ellen had been given some tissues, and the children were promptly told to be quiet before they received no sweets after dinner.
"I have never," she stated with a threatening sniff, "been involved in such hullabaloo. I am almost inclined to believe that I am at the Zoo. Orangutans and chimpanzees, the lot of you! What madness."
She had said it in such a way that even Mr Banks was regretful. He decided that tomorrow would be the best time to shave.