Career Choices

How often do we think about what our children are going to become?  It seems like all the time.  I want my boys to be responsible, productive members of society and so I do my best to help them learn about consequences.  They have heard that word many times and often their reply is "No, I don't want there to be consequences!"  Yeah, me too, me too.  So in my mind, as with probably all caring parents, we have thoughts of what their futures will be.  I had a flash this weekend of Incredible Hulk's future and here's a little taste of it.

Incredible Hulk (my youngest) asks, "Mom will you push me in the toy car?"  I say, "Sure, get in."  This toy car is one of those hard plastic kinds with a roof , a door that opens to get in, a steering wheel, and several other features that make it look like one of those tiny Smart Cars that are out on the road.  In theory, this car is propelled by foot power.  My boys have figured out how to get around the foot power and go faster.  It includes putting your feet up on either side of the steering wheel and have them sticking out the windshield.  So really the only thing keeping them from falling through to the bottom is their narrow behinds and their hands on the steering wheel.  Ok, that's something I would have done as a kid.  Here's where it goes past something I would have tried as a kid (today there's no way one of my legs could fit into that thing much less my "narrow" behind).  As I'm jogging while pushing this toy car, Hulk says to me, "Keep it straight Mom", ok not too hard, and he bails out of the car while it's in motion!  He does the tuck and roll like he's been doing this all his life (all 4 almost 5 years of it)!  It makes me laugh so hard I have to stop the car but Hulk is yelling at me, "Keep it straight Mom, I'm going to jump back in!"  I just couldn't keep going.  I was giggling too hard.  Hulk thinks I'm funny and starts laughing too.  After I get control of myself, at the insistence of Hulk, I get moving again being sure, with his prompting, to "Keep 'er straight."  He seemed like an expert.  He knew the best speed to roll out of the car while curling up into this cute ball and just how to scrunch his body up to get into the car's tiny opening, of course, while it was moving.

So it occurs to me, is this my glimpse into what he's going to be doing for a living?  Will I have a stuntman for a son?  He always seems to be attempting some climbing, jumping, running, moving feat that requires some calculated (or not so calculated) risk.  I think he would be a great stuntman.  Would I be a bad Mom to encourage it?  I've decided no.  That may make me a lunatic, but what kind of Mom would I be if I don't recognize his talents?  This doesn't mean I'm going right out to sign him up for stunt school.  Do they have those?  What it does mean is when he comes to me and asks me for various supplies like large suction cups, tape, and some string (he has asked for those things to climb the wall).  I will be sure to point out some physics such as his weight and how large the suction cups would need to be.

So bottom line for me is, being a Mom of my boys means understanding their talents and having the courage to enjoy and encourage their ideas.  Whew! this is the hardest and scariest thing I've ever done.  Wish me luck, because the world needs stuntman!