Monday, March 19, 2012

What do you want to be when you grow up???

It's interesting to see where we all end up from where we thought we would end up when we were younger.  Children are always asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  Laci has really enjoyed space lately and she loves looking at the stars and planets at night.  Charlie has a big interest in this also and will get his telescope out for her.  With daylight savings, this is going to be more difficult to do.  It never gets dark here.  I am exaggerating of course but right now in March, the sun doesn't go down 8.  By July, it doesn't get dark until almost 10.  Try to get a 4 year old to sleep when it is daylight!!!  The other day Laci was talking about going into space to look at the earth.  I told her she could become an astronaut when she grows up.  She reminded me that she wants to be a princess.  We settled on an astronaut princess but we may have to share Daddy as our prince.

Charlie is looking at career changes right now so we talk about that question a lot - What do you want to be when you grow up.  I remember being 12 or 13 and being asked that question.  I distinctly remember writing something for class along the lines of "I think I want to teach preschool when I grow up - or do something with kids.  I know I do not want to an engineer like my dad and brother."  My brother was in college at the time studying engineering.  I think about that sentence a lot because it makes me chuckle.  It's funny how a few years can make such a difference.  By the time I graduated high school, I had changed my tune.  I am now an engineer and very proud of it.  Getting my professional engineering license has been one of my proudest accomplishments.  Even though I have never been a designer or designed anything, I passed the test.  I passed the test that so many others have struggled with.  I have two letters next to my name that give me authority and remind me that I may know what I am doing.  

I thought about my original career dreams to work with children yesterday morning.  I was volunteering in the 2 year old room at church.  Usually there are 4 or 5 kids there.  Laci and Calvin often stay with me even though Calvin is too young and Laci is too old for that room.  She likes to be my "helper".  Yesterday there were 13 children in there - including my two.  It was mass chaos.  I had 2 teenage helpers and one mom randomly stayed the entire hour.  I wasn't sure if she thought we wouldn't be able to handle it or if she was checking things out or if she was overprotective but she stayed the whole hour.  Even with the help, I still never felt like I had total control.  There were a few minutes here or there where I had two or three kids with me reading a book and I could sigh and catch my breath.  But at the end of the hour, I was exhausted.  It proved to me that it takes a special person to be in that line of work and I am not that person! 

After the service, Charlie picked the kids up to get donuts in the dining room while I waited for the parents and my replacement to arrive.  When I got down to the dining room, Charlie handed Calvin to me in the hallway and said "Here take him, I have a mess to clean up." Apparently, instead of donuts, the kids picked up cupcakes with lots of frosting and pudding inside.  Calvin ended up with cupcake and pudding everywhere - and I mean everywhere!  After watching Charlie clean up Calvin and then the table and floor around him, I was starting to question who had a more traumatic morning.  

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