Monday, December 01, 2008

In case you thought I had fallen off the edge of the earth.

All parents have dreams for their precious children. We want them to be kind, and wonderful, and possibly even famous. Or rich. And as soon as the little darlings show an inkling of intelligence, we are ready to send them to Harvard, or some such place, so they can "realize their true potential". I admit, I am one of those parents.
Girl Terror spent the last year telling us she was going to grow up to be an archeologist, with her main focus being paleontology. Yes, I'm serious. The girl was all about digging up ancient creatures, and lost cities, and finding shards of bone in the desert.
I was pleased. I've known for awhile that she is smarter than me, and I was glad to see that her brains would not be wasted. Her father was beyond pleased. If she would just buy a pocket protector and invest in some Dungeons and Dragons stuff, his life would be complete.
Last week her career plans changed. Now she wants to be a "Day Care Lady." Why the change? She spent the day with Boy Terror at his caregiver's home, and it made enough of an impression on her to make her change course.
Yes, I know she is six. I understand that she will change her mind 20 million times during her teen years. But for now, she wants to look after small children. She wants to be "the nicest lady". She wants to grow up to be just like Sandy.
You might think I'm sad to say good-bye to the Ivy League. The prestige in her new career choice cannot compare to being called "Professor" and having her findings published. But really, I'm thrilled. I know for sure now that Boy Terror is in the right place. That one day will be reminisced about endlessly. Details (many totally not true!) will be added to the stories. And we will often hear "Remember the day I went to Sandy's house?" After just one day, she was deeply, passionately in love with Sandy. That says a lot about what kind of home she runs.

As well, this new career plan means there is a slight hope that my little girl is not going to be a total geek her whole life, with her dinosaur facts, world knowledge, and math books all around.

1 comment:

koreen (aka: winn) said...

What a shame! I'm totally into dinosaurs too, and so glad Evan and I have that in common. ;) But I'm sure she'll be brilliant at whatever she does.