My Child Will Choose What She Will Grow Up to Be

MY KID IS THE BEST… TIED WITH YOURS

I always knew my daughter is smart. Don’t we ALL know our kid is the smartest in the world? Of course! In the case of my daughter, she seems to have learned how to speak in complete sentences (keyword: “seems”). She was an early reader and now, as a second grader, is flying through the Little House on the Prairie series (some things in them go over her head, but still, kudos to her for digging in!). And she definitely has a mind for math (she’s much quicker with mental math than I ever will be).

But I definitely send praise to everything wonderful that she has the “smart humor” of an adult. I mean, this child understands, appreciates, and correctly uses sarcasm! Thank goodness because, otherwise, she’d never understand my humor and just think I’m an awful person.

On top of her smarts, this girl has talent (as I have no doubt every one of your children do, too). She can carry a tune in perfect pitch and has a lovely voice (when she’s not smushing it up all weird into some tiny voice to sound like the auto-tune voices in some pop songs). She dances with soul and spirit and precision. And she’s even starting to pick up on piano.

Most importantly, she’s kind. MAN, is that child kind!!

WHAT WILL SHE BE??

Often, I look at her and wonder what she’ll grow up to be in life. Which of her talents will take the forefront? Which talent will she chose to emphasize? Where in the world is she going to go in her life? It’s hard to imagine her older than her second grade self, let alone as an adult pursuing some career. But I try to imagine. Will she be in a helping-others field? Will she be a scholar? Will she be in the entertainment world? I have no idea, but I know one thing for sure…

SHE IS IN CHARGE OF HER DESTINY

It will be SHE who chooses which path she takes in life. Even now, I don’t select her hobbies for her. She’s sampled many and chooses what she likes. She sang in a community choir for a bit, but decided she didn’t love doing that. She’s tried soccer, volleyball, and softball but decided, after each season, that they weren’t for her. She’s taken art classes, cooking classes, gymnastics classes. She has enjoyed little theater experiences here and there. But so far, what she’s really grabbed onto are all types of dance and piano. But mostly dance.

And that’s all her. Often, when people hear that she is taking FIVE dance classes as a second grader, I hear “woah” aaaaand sense some judgement in there, like “Take it easy there, Dance Mom.” But Dance Mom I am not. My daughter has chosen this for herself. SHE decides to practice at home. SHE decides to use every horizontal post in her life as a ballet barre. This passion for dance stems from her, not from me.

And that’s how all her “what will she be” decisions will be made – guided by HER spirit, not mine.

BIG BUCKS OR NO

When I say that my daughter gets to choose her path in life, I really mean that (with the exception of going down some dark, dirty, self-destruction path… heck NO is this Momma gonna let THAT happen). So if she decides to be a big city lawyer and make the big bucks, I’ll let her. If she feels pulled to live meekly, paycheck-to-paycheck as she takes some noble job that puts others before herself, so be it.

SHE’LL DECIDE WISELY

One thing I can be sure of today, even at this very moment, is she will make her career decisions wisely. It might seem bold to be so sure that my 7-year-old will chose her career path wisely, but I have no doubt. She’s going to decide what’s absolutely best for her.

AND HOW CAN I KNOW THIS?

Because I have proof! The other day, as we pulled out of the McDonald’s drive-through (or should I say “drive-thru”), she noticed the sign that said, “Now we are hiring” (the phrasing of which makes me chuckle). And she said…

“When I grow up, I could work at McDonald’s! They ARE hiring, you know. See? [points to the sign].”

[thoughtful pause from the backseat]

“But McDonald’s sells breakfast. So I’m not going to work there. Because people’s breath stinks in the morning, so they’d have stinky breath when they came in for breakfast. And I do NOT want to smell everyone’s stinky breath. So no WAY am I going to work at McDonald’s.”