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When I Grow Up

When I Grow Up I Want To Be…

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Each year before the kids go off to their first day of school, we take the same picture of them out front of the house, as parents do. We ask them what they think they want to be when they grow up and we write it on the sign and snap the picture. The first couple years we got the standard responses of policewoman, doctor or firefighter, which are excellent choices by the way, but we noticed this past year that the kids are really starting to give the question some thought.

Instead of doctor, our daughter has narrowed down her field of choice to veterinarian, which, judging by the way she takes care of her stuffed animals, is an excellent choice. My son, on the other hand, has bounced between policeman and firefighter the last couple years but this year he too narrowed his choice down to working in forensics, just like daddy, as he put it.

While I realize there is a very good chance that my children will not work in these fields, I’m excited that they are already thinking about what it is they would like to do in the future. I spent a lot of time focusing on sports as a kid and then flaked out in high school, despite my parents encouragement to strive for more. So as I sit here still wondering what I want to do with the rest of my life, I’m hopeful that my kids will continue to dream big and not let anything get in their way. At their young ages there is truly nothing they can’t accomplish and I can’t wait to see what they do with their lives.

I mean, who knows, my daughter might still change her mind back to skateboarding princess, which would be absolutely rad! Plus, if she ever stumbles for career ideas, she can look no further than the Barbie collection she plays with almost every single day. Fun fact: Barbie has had over 155 different careers in her lifetime and although that makes her sound like a terrible employee, I can assure you it’s just because she never ever ages…

Giveaway

To celebrate the new Barbie “You Can Be Anything” campaign, I am giving away a very cool Barbie Prize Pack to one luck reader. Just enter as many options as you would like on the Rafflecopter form below and I’ll select a winner on the weekend! Giveaway is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec, and includes the Barbie™ Careers Eye Doctor Playset and two Barbie™ Fashionista dolls. Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, however I do think skateboard princess is the coolest job you could ever hope for!

A Moment In Time

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Amidst the chaos in the fenced off kindergarten playground, I watched him quietly shovel sand into his bucket. If there has even been a time where I could ignore my surroundings and focus on a singular event like he was, I certainly can’t remember it. I realized today that I am lucky to have had the opportunity to hang around to watch him play and interact with potential new friends. Next year he will be thrust into the real world that is grade 1, where his school life will truly begin.

One of the most important things that being a parent has taught me is how to stop and enjoy a moment in time. This was going to be one of the last times that I would be able to watch him interact in the school yard and I was going to soak up every last second of it. At one point he glances over and flashes a smile my way. I played it totally cool, while my emotions raced with a thousand memories of his youth. It’s a lot harder to let go than I imagined it would be. He’s sheltered right now, with kids his own age, oblivious to what awaits beyond the steel gates of the kindergarten sanctuary. Soon he will learn about bullies, girls, structure and peer pressure, and I worry about whether I given him all the tools he needs to make the right decisions. Time will tell, I guess.

What I do know, is that I still have four months left with my kindergartner and I have no intention of rushing through that time. We’ll worry about bigger kids and heartbreak when we get to it, but for now, we’ve got some memories to create.

Someday That’ll Be Me

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I love being a Dad. Snuggling with my little ones is probably my favourite pastime these days, especially with the advance knowledge that they won’t want to do that forever. I can’t believe how fast they are growing up and how quickly their minds and abilities are evolving, but, I have to admit, contrary to how I thought I would feel about their rate of growth, I’m kind of excited about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t want them to turn into teenagers tomorrow. I love all the amazing moments and “firsts” that come with raising toddlers, but every now and then I see a Dad on his way to his son’s hockey practice or daughter’s dance recital and proudly think, “Someday that’ll be me”.

With each new step my children take towards independence, I can’t help but think of everything the world has in store for them and for us as a family. When I took my son skating for the first time, I kept glancing over at the father and son having a game of one on one and got an extra proud bounce in my stride in thinking about the day that I will be playing in that game.

I watch how carefully and lovingly my daughter takes care of her little dolls, making sure to give them all regular checkups, and I can’t help but flash forward to the day that she is taking care of real people at her own practice. These thoughts bring on an unexplainable sense of pride in knowing that my kids still have time to do whatever they want to do with their lives.

I have no intention of rushing my children’s development but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for the journey that lies ahead. Even the smallest of scenarios are things that I can’t stop thinking about. I saw an older man having lunch with his adult son and grandson the other day and I couldn’t help but get lost in thinking, “Someday that’ll be me”.

The Smile That Stopped The World

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It’s no secret that as our children get older, they need us less and less. I’ve already begun to see the signs of this with my 4 year old son as he sets out on his path to independence. He recently started his first “no parents allowed” swimming class and it is devastating and exciting all at once.

For some reason, even though I’d been through this with my boy, I thought that my little girl would be, well, my little girl, forever. Every day that passes I see her learning more and gaining the ability to do the little things that Daddy used to help with.

She can do up her own seatbelt in the wagon now, Daddy used to help with that. She doesn’t need Daddy to help her much at the park any more because as she says “No, I Can Do It!”. She doesn’t even need me to help her down the stairs any more, even though I still stand there, hovering over her, sometimes even hoping she’ll slip up a bit so Daddy can catch her.

That sounds harsh and it’s not that I want her to get hurt, it’s just that I want to show her that I am still useful. I want her to need me as much as I need her to need me. I know there’s a next stage of her life, where she’ll need me for a lot of other things, like riding a bike or eating an ice cream cone but I’m just not ready to go there yet.

There’s something about the sincere joy in her eyes when she sees me come in the door from work, that makes my heart ache for the day when I walk in and she just nods and carries on with her day. I dread the day when her excited screams of “Daddy, Daddy!” change to a “What’s Up?” as I enter the room.

She doesn’t know it but she has the ability to stop my world on a dime with a simple unforced cuddle. With a smile, she takes away all my worries and troubles, even if just for a split second, which is long enough.

I’m not sure what brought this on tonight. Whether it was the terrible things happening in the world right now or the realization that kids get older and need us less; or maybe a combination of both.

There is one thing I do know though.

I danced with my little girl this afternoon and as I twirled her around in my arms, in that moment, we were both completely and utterly happy. Most likely for different reasons but happy all the same.

I realized today that it’s okay for my kids to get older and it’s okay for me to be scared about that. What really matters is that I take a moment every now and then to stop and truly appreciate everything I have in them.

There’s no way of knowing what’s in store for them, so all we can do is show them that we are here for them when they need us. To give them all the love that a parent possibly can and hope that someday they are able to share that love with a family of their own.

Kids may grow up and need us less but until that happens I am going to continue to enjoy the moments that bring my world to a stand still.

Cheers!