Childhood Dreams

Today I was thinking about dreams. Not the kind of dreams you have when you're sleeping, but the dreams you had as a kid growing up. You know like; Jimmy wants to be a baseball player or Julie wants to be a ballerina. As I was pondering this, I listened to Megan singing to the radio on our way back from ice skating. I started wondering what her dreams were. What was it that my darling daughter wanted to do or see? So I asked her, "Megan what kind of dreams do you have for when you grow up?" She didn't say anything at first, she just sat there with this serious expression on her face. After a few moments she started spilling out her dreams; ice skating coach, artist, singer, fashion designer, chef and maybe a veterinarian. That last one was thrown in for Mom. But I was really impressed with her dreams, they were not silly or unattainable. They were dreams that went along with her personality, her talents and her interests. It was a great opportunity to tell her that every one of her dreams can come true if she works at them. There are so many times in our children's lives we have to say no, "No, you can't have candy before dinner." " No, you can't have a pet bunny." It felt so good to say "YES" yes you can make all your dreams come true.

Megan asked me what my dreams were as a kid. Thinking back to what my dreams were made me laugh. Megan even started laughing after I told her. They were not anything practical or attainable, but they were fun. My dreams have changed through the years too, as I changed. I know that the list above may not be my daughter's list in 10 years or even 5 years. But for now I am enjoying the fact that the hobbies and activities Megan does are things she loves to do. Things she dreams about doing in the future.

So what is the point of telling all of you this story? Well I guess to make you remember your dreams and to encourage you to talk to your kids about their dreams. They may surprise you!