Friday – You Gotta Have Goals

[ninanevermore]

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Earlier this week, I was caring my 4 year old from the bathroom to the bedroom after his bath. He was wrapped in a brown towel that looks like a teddy bear. It has a little hood that has little bear ears on top, and bear eyes and a bear nose over his forehead. I was teasing him about looking like a bear.

"Aren't you a cute little baby bear," I told him.

"No, I'm not a baby bear. I'm a little boy," he corrected me.

"A little boy? Are you sure? You look like a little bear to me."

"Nope. I'm a boy." He was very serious; he wanted to clear up any confusion I might have about what species he belongs to. He yanked the hood of the towl off his head. "See?"

"You're a boy now. What are you going to be when you get bigger like your daddy?" He often reminds me that he is getting bigger like his daddy, and not like his mommy. He once pointed out to me that I'm "just a little mommy," and that his daddy is much bigger than me. Therefore, his daddy is the person he wants to be bigger like. I don't blame him. What guy wants to stop growing at 5 feet tall like I did?

"I'm going to be a firefighter," he told me. He already has the hat left over from Halloween, so he's well on his way.

"A firefighter, huh? I bet you'll make a good one."

"Uh-huh. Rainy's going to be a princess when she grows up."

Rainy is the little girl he admires at school. Coincidentally, her mother also calls her Sweet Pea like I call my son. My son was surprised to hear that Sweet Peas could also be girls, but since he likes Rainy a lot he's okay with it.

"A princess? Really?" Even I have to admit that the princess gig is nice work, if you can get it.

"Uh huh. That's what she wants to be."

"Can princesses and firefighters hang out together and be friends?"

"Yup," he nodded. "They can."

"Why do you want to be a firefighter?"

"Because they have big red trucks with lights and they can go faster, faster!" He demonstrated the lights and the faster, faster with his hands as he spoke.

Nothing about saving people or putting out fires. It's all about the big red trucks with lights. I'm sure Rainy's desire to be royalty has more to do with pretty dresses and getting to wear a tiara than it does with serving the people of her kingdom and using her influence for good.

You've got to admire their honesty, at least.

The world is a simple place when you are 4, and you want what you want because you want it, without any burden of principle or annoying obstacles. The drudgery of paying bills and getting by day to day is a long way off for them, and has no bearing on how they plan to live some day. When you grow up, you can be anything you can imagine. Since the world has a limited supply of both princesses and firefighters, the odds are that their goals will change at some point. Children are not like sapling trees. With a tree, you have a good idea, since a baby oak grows into an oak. A baby elm grows into a an elm. A small pine grows into a pine tree. But who know what a little princess or a small firefighter will be some day?

I think the fun lies in watching and seeing, and imagining along with them.




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Comments

[basketcaselady.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty certain a princess can be with a fireman. I'm the Queen of Everything and I married one of Uncle Sam's sailors :) Though it was somewhat difficult to have to change kingdoms every time he received orders to a new command.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

If you two worked out, then I'm sure Princess Rainy and Fireman SweetPea should have no problems so long as he plays the part of her knight in shining armor and treats her like a queen. Chicks dig that kind of thing. :)

[jenelycam.livejournal.com]

Funny how many times they change their minds. But I love their reasoning sometimes...very "what they want". :P

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Maybe their on to something. I love doing what I want because I want to, but these days I feel guilty for it.

I want to be 4 again. *pouts*

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

4 is good.
**smiles**

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

I miss my little baby, I'm enchanted by the little boy he's become, and I'm in awe of what he might be some day. :)

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

With the older kids, I was always ready for the "next trick." Learn to walk, learn to talk, learn to drive....
With the baby, not so much.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

I love watching him grow, but I'm amazed at how fast he seems to do it. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was just learning to walk, or crawl, or eat with his hands, or hold his neck up on his own. Heck, it doesn't even seem like that long ago when I had a late period and realized my life was never going to be the same. I can sum it all up with the word, "Wow!"

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

"Wow" sums it up pretty well, doesn't it.

[woohag.livejournal.com]

Fun entry, well told. :)

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

[martina-d.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's a great picture of him. He's definitely impish! And a great story also, of course.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Thanks! He gets the imp thing from me. Or at least, I've been accused if it before. ;)

[jenandbronze.livejournal.com]

I went back and forth between becoming a teacher or veterinarian, but i have always fallen back towards still wanting to be a teacher, and I still want to be a teacher LOL!

You have one adorable boy there, cherish it... time flies quickly.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

It seems sometimes like we're born knowing what we should be, and then try to talk ourselves out of it at some point.

When I was 10, I knew I wanted to be a writer. Never have got around to doing anything about it, but nothing else has ever made me happy. Perhaps you should teach, if that's what your heart has known your path should be. :)

You're right: I never knew how fast time passed until I had a child to watch grow. Every time I blink, he seems to get a little bit bigger!

[lil-ms-drama.livejournal.com]

Ian's at the age where he's no longer my baby. I ask him "Are you Mommy's baby?" and he answers "No, I Ian."

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

The whole self identity thing is funny when it kicks in. I remember kissing mine and calling him baby, and he shot back, "I not a baby, I Iwiff!" I think I offended him. :)