peanut wonderings: what did you want to be when you grew up?

{me circa 1987}

Does any kid really know what they want to be when they grow up? I guess they think they do. I did. At four, I was dead set on being a barbie. At ten, I knew I would be a professional ice skater. At seventeen, I settled on my natural ability to be a teacher and decided that would be my future profession. I tried to ignore my talents and switched around from major to major while in college hoping I would graduate in anything other than teaching, but nothing fit my personality as well as being in front of a classroom full of rowdy pubescent boys and girls.

Yesterday when I picked Mya up from preschool and again learned that she didn't want to sit and listen like the other kids and that she remained headstrong about doing her own thing, I wondered what she would be when she grows up. It's a gamble. She will either be the President of the United States, a hockey player or a nurse.

She'd make a good president because she is really good about saying a lot of fancy things but doing the exact opposite of what she says. She'd be an excellent hockey player because she has enough built up aggression that she will let it fly on the ice. And she'd be a stellar nurse because even though she has a rough exterior, she has a heart of gold and loves to nurture people. I often find her in her room rocking her baby animals to sleep. And when I was sick last week, she would come into my room and stroke my hair while whispering, "You'll get better soon."

I don't really care what she becomes as long as she doesn't end up in jail.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you become it? If not, what did you do with your life instead?