Maybe Tom just needs to know Old Tax-Lady has lived long enough that she knows what she doesn’t like, and snakes are at the top of the list. ;o]
Perhaps if he just told her how excited he is about it, without the “show” part...?
We’ll aim for that. Tom is *very intense*, and tends to block out any input that isn’t what he wants to receive. I’m sure this will be a good point sometime in life :-).
I used to say about Anoreth, when she was 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.: “Someday the fact that she’s so incredibly determined that she will ignore any influences opposed to her goals will be a Good Thing.” We’ve reached that point! She knows what she wants - and what she wants is reasonable and morally appropriate - and she doesn’t care what anyone else thinks or does.