node = { 'parent':0, 'left':0, 'right':0 }
import copy
root = copy.deepcopy(node)
root['parent'] = -1
left = copy
just to show another thought on implementation if you stick to the "OOP"
class Node:
def __init__(self,data):
self.data = data
self.child = {}
def append(self, title, child):
self.child[title] = child
CEO = Node( ('ceo', 1000) )
CTO = ('cto',100)
CFO = ('cfo', 10)
CEO.append('left child', CTO)
CEO.append('right child', CFO)
print CEO.data
print ' ', CEO.child['left child']
print ' ', CEO.child['right child']