Future Dreams

As told to me by Miss Brooke (M's teacher at school).

I don't understand why we ask kids "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Heck, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up! I consider career changes all the time. Perhaps it's a way to help children envision a future, or to identify differences among adults. Perhaps it's just amusing for adults to hear their responses. I don't know.

At any rate, Margot has wavered between wanting to be a ballerina, a doctor, a firefighter, and a ballerina/doctor (maybe she means sports medicine?). One thing she is adament about: she's not going to college. Any suggestion to the contrary brings her to tears. She says she wants to live with me and Brodie forever. (This fear of college resulted from her Aunt Teal moving away to attend college two years ago.)

For the past few weeks, Margot's class has been studying dirt and all things dirt-related (i.e., landscapes, rocks, worms, etc.). Yesterday, her class learned about different kinds of jobs related to soil: archaeologists, miners, landscapers, construction workers, geologists, and gemologists. Her teacher asked which kids would like to do which job when they grow up. There was heavy interest in gemology amongst the girls in her class, and construction amongst the boys.

Margot's response? "None. I want to be a pretty person on stage."